Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers
by Yellow Pikmin
Summary: Rose travels the world in an effort to get away from Britain and its remaining Death Eater problems. Through her journey, she encounters a number of remarkable individuals. Will not be strictly Avengers. Some OCs. Pairings not finalized. Fem!Harry M because it mentions adult things. No lemons.
1. Prologue: The Next Great Adventure

**Rose Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: Hey, my first story. Reviews appreciated, wah wah wah. Besides the clothes on my back, I own nothing**

**Prologue: The Next Great Adventure**

Rose Lily Potter was innocently walking down Diagon Alley to go meet with her account managers at Gringotts.

The Goblins were not upset with her for her break in two months ago. They had told her that they knew exactly what was going on as soon as the three had stepped in to the bank and gave a token effort to stop them to keep up appearances. In fact, they were actually more upset with Griphook for his betrayal of them than anything. They still kept the Sword of Gryffindor as "reparations" for her crimes, while secretly handing her a set of fine goblin made daggers made specifically in recognition of her victory over Voldemort ("These are more suited for your build anyway").

Not wanting to upset the goblins, she accepted them gratefully and even received an offer to step in to any Gringotts branch around the world and receive lessons as often as she would like from the goblins.

Those meetings, which went extremely differently from how Rose thought they would, led to the goblins setting up today's meeting about her inheritance. Dumbledore had been taking care of the Potter (and later Black) fortunes. Despite Rose's initial belief that Dumbledore was taking money from her, Dumbledore had done an extremely thorough and great job of handling her assets, according to the goblins. The details of exactly how well would be explained at this meeting.

The meeting passed without fanfare. The account manager, Bloodtooth, handed her a summary of her accounts. The number on the paper went over Rose's head, but she did notice the note by Bloodtooth that said that he and Dumbledore had worked together to increase her total worth by triple what it started at with her parents' death. Needless to say, Rose was loaded. What completely blindsided Rose was a letter left for Rose with Bloodtooth for her to read after the war was over.

_My dearest Rose,_

_ I feel like this is not enough to make up for all that you've had to put up with and go through during this. Much of which was done because of decisions I've made. Needless to say, things cannot be undone, but if it makes any difference, I am terribly sorry for everything. I visited the Dursleys' shortly before the completion of your fourth year and what I saw in their minds horrified me. If Voldemort had not just returned, you would not have been placed there again, period. I changed the wards then and there to include protection inside the home as well, but the damage was done. I am impressed and saddened that you went through that and somehow came out such a wonderful young lady. _

_ My mistakes do not end there, but you need not the reminder. I only mention them to give you some of the last advice that I can hope to give you. I only hope that you take it in the spirit that it is offered._

_I knew early on that your early life would not be easy. I did not anticipate exactly how difficult you would have it. My dream for your life was to have you live with loving relatives, have an enjoyable time with friends at school while learning to handle your fame (your aunt was supposed to inform you of on your 10__th__ birthday as well as our world), graduate as a top student, receive extra training with myself and select others to have you ready when Voldemort returned and have you face him with a ready force behind you giving you the support you need for victory. _

_ I hope you will be able to move on from what has happened, but I know it will not be easy for you to do so. I wish to tell you how I overcame what happened to me when I lost Arianna (my sister, in case you haven't learned) and later my friend Grindewald. I reached a low point after my defeat of Grindewald. Everyone wanted me to step into leadership roles immediately that I was not ready for. I was still struggling with my loses from that war. I decided to travel the world and take in the sights and sounds of both muggle and magical aspects of the Earth. I must say, it was probably the greatest decision I could have made. It gave me great insight into people and magic. I learned of poverty in the jungles and slums of Africa, I learned of the foolishness of certain governments in Russia (why I never took up Minister of Magic), I learned of youth and freedom in America (still a growing enterprise of a country, despite their flaws. They are very refreshing), and I learned many other lessons. When I returned to England to teach, I had learned of many new types of magic, I had advanced in our general fields of Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, and even learned a little of the Dark Arts (remember to be careful with those and remember your cleansing rituals. Don't learn that from a book, if you do learn it. Find a teacher). _

_ If I could tell you anything now, I would advise you to think about a world journey, a pilgrimage of sorts. Take off on your own. If you take your friends, you will stick to their sides and not meet new people! That is the best part; branching out! Go out and enjoy the world as I once did. _

_ This money that I've made on your behalf is nothing. Blow it all, if you would like. That is why it is here, my girl. Just for that purpose. I have always had faith that you would come out on top and new you would need some basic things to live a full life (because let's face it, it will be hard to have a normal job with all your fans and the press). Don't worry about saving money, you have plenty. _

_ Whatever you do, my dear, don't forget to live. Those of us that have passed don't want you to swallow yourself in guilt. I don't know who all will survive til the end, but I know that no-one that you know would be happy to watch you from this side if you are sitting in guilt. I personally want to watch you enjoy yourself. If I can watch you from this side laughing and enjoying yourself, I can honestly say, my afterlife will be very sweet. _

_ Also, if you come across any sweets that you have not yet tried during your life, always try it. You never know when you will come across your favorite sweet in a random place. Random fact: my lemon drops have always been purchased from the same little store in a town in southern Florida. I've never purchased them from anywhere else. _

_Please, live, Rose._

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_My Greatest Accomplishment_

_Your Headmaster of Hogwarts_

Rose left the bank after that in a daze, trying to come to terms with the advice that Dumbledore had left her. It sounded like a good idea, but did she really want to leave her friends in England? Maybe they would want to leave the country too and meet back every so often and see each other. But there was so much work to be done in England with the cleanup after the war. She herself had been in meeting after meeting, cleaning up at Hogwarts, attending funerals, and every other thing under the sun.

Rose was deep in her thoughts and not keeping her guard up, which is why the green curse that just barely flew by her left ear (thank Merlin for bad aim), caught her completely off guard. Rose turned around and saw the last Inner Circle member, Dolohov, surrounded by five other Death Eater's, apparently trying to continue Voldemort's reign of terror.

She barely had a chance to dive out of the way of another Killing Curse, when she was hit with a Cruciatus Curse from Dolohov. Caught off guard as she was, the curse caused her to drop straight to the ground in pain and hit her head on the cobblestone path and remember nothing else

When Rose woke up in a daze later, she was confused by the bright lights and tried to snuggle back into the soft warm sheets, waiting for the torture that was sure to follow her revival, obviously having been taken by …. Wait? Soft, warm sheets?

Rose shot straight up, getting a sharp pain in her head in the process.

"Rose!"

More pain in her head, but at least it was a welcome voice, if loud. Rose was forced back down onto her bed and slowly opened her eyes to see the relieved face of her best friend, Hermione Granger, eyes red and tears down her face.

"Hey, 'Mione."

"Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"

"I'd make a herd of Hippogriffs or run over by the Knight Bus joke if I didn't think George would be disappointed, but somewhere around there. How come I'm in the hospital?" Rose replied, just now taking in the sterile white walls of a private room of what she knew was St Mungos.

"You don't remember the attack?"

"No. I remember that, but only the beginning. I went down embarrassingly early." Rose threw her arm over her eyes in embarrassment.

"Stop moping, you were caught off guard, or so I've heard. Ron's getting the full story now. You know how he is. He wants to make sure he has names of everyone who hurt you." Ron's attitude was nothing new. After his abandonment in fourth year, he had stuck up for "his girls" like the fiercest mama bear looking after a pair of cubs.

"He's never going to let me live down going to Gringott's alone, is he?" Rose moaned.

"Should he?" Hermione pouted, "You shouldn't have been alone. It's only been 2 months since you beat Voldemort and we still haven't caught Dolohov."

"Yes, we have," came a voice from the door.

Rose turned to see Ron Weasley, her other best friend standing at the door with a smug and simultaneously worried look that Rose could never figure out how Ron pulled off.

"He got hit by some adoring fan of Miss Potter here, along with every other Death Eater that decided attacking a hero in broad daylight was smart," Ron said cheekily as he moved over to Rose's bed and took his best friends hand (being the best friend of two girls made him quite capable of having a healthy emotional range far exceeding a teaspoon). "Are you alright?"

"My head's on fire from 'Mione screaming my name when I woke up, but yeah," came Rose's typically cheeky reply followed by Hermione's typical swat on her arm (sans any heat or force).

"Well, if that's all, we'll get a healer in here after we chat a bit."

The seriousness in Ron's tone took both girls aback a little.

"Ron?"

"Rose, this is the third time you've been attacked by rouge Death Eaters. You've been attacked twice by former snatchers upset with losing their new business." Ron fixed Rose with the most serious look she'd ever seen on him. "Not to mention you were alone and walking down Diagon Alley in a daze according to the witnesses, not keeping an eye out like I made you promise when you said you wanted to go alone."

Rose dropped her head to her chest in shame and Hermione, who would normally chastise Ron for how he was talking to Rose, was oddly silent.

"I'm sorry, Ron," came the weak whisper from Rose, the sincerity of which broke her best friends' hearts, but not Ron's resolve.

With Hermione and Ron both tightening their grips on their best friends hands, Ron continued, "If the war was still going on, it might be different, but as long as a single Death Eater or sympathizer is out there, you are going to be a target. We were lucky this time that there was a DA member in the crowd that didn't freeze up and got the crowd pulling wands instead of fleeing that we even have you around this time."

Ron used his free hand to pull Rose's chin up so emerald eyes met tearful blue. "Do you know what that would do to 'Mione and me?" Ron choked out.

"It'd devastate us." The weak whisper from 'Mione got their attention, seeing tears freely flowing from her eyes. "More than anyone else we've lost so far. Just like if _any_ of the three of us was taken."

"She's right. But the difference remains that you've been attacked 5 times already and neither of us were with you or have been attacked at all. We can't keep ignoring it like it'll go away." Ron's determined moist eyes fixed firmly back on Rose's.

Rose's chin made another retreat back to her chest, her long silky black hair (silky from her Mum, black from her Dad) covering her whole face as she croaked out, "What can I do? It's not like I can just stop living."

For the first time since he'd come in Ron faltered a bit, "I.. I don't want you to be mad Rose, but we read the letter Dumbledore left." Rose's body didn't tense up, so Ron hoped she was okay with that. ""Mione and I think it's a good idea."

Rose's head shot up at that. "What idea?"

Hermione took that chance to get excited, "For you to see the world, of corse!"

"But, but what about you two?" Rose stammered.

The look of understanding on Ron's face, so uncommonly seen there, took Rose's argument right out of her brain before Ron could even tell her, "Rose, nothing will ever come between us, and in no way will we ever be anything but the best of friends, but this is something we think you should do yourself, like Dumbledore suggested. Not to mention," Ron pulled out a mirror, "'Mione finished our mirrors so we'll always be a call away, even your little Teddy will get one when we get around to making one, as will all of our friends and family. Just because you'll be out traveling doesn't mean you'll be alone."

"And no one deserves it more than you," came Hermione's earnest agreement.

Rose, bless her heart, still tried to stammer a token argument, "But there's so much to do…."

"And none if it needs to be done by you." The deep bass voice from the door catching them off guard made them turn to see the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt at the door, finally releasing a tearful Molly Weasley to administer her pseudo-motherly affections on Rose. Arthur Weasley turned from asking the rest of the Weasley clan to file in slowly instead of typical Weasley rush formation (applied in Quidditch _and _Hospital Room entering).

Being who she was, Rose had procured the large private room at St Mungos that the staff had always insisted she have both for her fame and for the large number of visitors she always had, so they all fit.

Ginny, looking far too smug for her own good, moseyed in last causing George to roll his eyes, laugh (something not heard often anymore after Fred's death) and answer Rose's unanswered question, "Gin-Gin is the one who snuck away from Mum and Dad and just _happened _to be in Diagon Alley during the attack."

"Hey, it really was a coincidence. I'm just proud of the fact that I downed Dolohov and then activated Rose's hospital portkey." Ginny dropped the smug look to glare at George.

Rose reached her arms, recently freed from Molly's grasp, out for Ginny, who practically ran into her friends hug. "Thanks, 'Gin."

The banter between the two Weasley siblings lifted her heart immensely. Of all her romantic relationships (grand whopping total of 3), two had been Weasleys. Her first was with George's twin brother Fred. She really liked his mischievous nature and that, coupled with her uncanny ability to tell the twins apart, had led to her and Fred dating for 4 months in her 3rd year. They were a great couple that just ended up splitting up over nothing. Fred was a great boyfriend to Rose, and they both really enjoyed the relationship, but they just didn't feel like it was that serious and split it off, never having hard feelings over it.

The other Weasely that she dated, and only Ron and Hermione knew, was Ginny. She and Ginny had become attracted to each other while dueling each other before and after DA meetings during Rose's 5th year. Both were prodigies in DADA, so they had always been each other's dueling partners since Rose had a need of one while preparing for the tournament in 4th year. Ron and Hermione were still thanking Ginny for being the one to take Rose's hits, since both could not come close to Rose's natural skill in that area.

Rose and Ginny's relationship had started without any fanfare as they both were unaware that same-sex relationships were not taboo in the wizarding world. In fact, it only came to Hermione and Ron's attention much later. Both had noticed Ginny being more involved in their group, but didn't realize the reason.

It was Hermione who found out first, actually catching the two in Rose's bed, having both been each other's first experience with any kind of sex. Hermione, despite being very open-minded, was so caught off-balance that she babbled like an idiot for the entirety of the next day while Rose and Ginny flushed red. Ron, the oblivious boy he was, didn't catch any of those subtle clues, and walked in on Rose and Ginny snogging the next night before a DA meeting, and promptly fainted.

They had secretly dated almost the entirety of the year, finally being open about it when Fred and George had thankfully left the castle. The rest of the castle noticed, but didn't think it newsworthy enough to inform the press or the rest of the Weasleys.

It was a fit of depression that ended their relationship during the next summer. Distraught by Sirius's death, Rose became detached from her girlfriend and the tension finally became too much to recover from by the time she snapped out of her mood. Ginny's parents thought Ginny was upset with Sirius's death as well and didn't comment of her broodiness. Ron didn't see it any part of his business to correct them. It was a mutual split, but they stayed good friends, even enjoying a drunken rendezvous after a particularly boring Slughorn dinner party.

It was these happy memories Rose thought of while she held her "secret" ex-girlfriend in her arms.

"Thanks, Gin," She repeated. "I know I can always count on you to take out the biggest and badest Death Eaters."

Ginny chuckled and stepped back so the rest of the Weasley's could give her a hug, even Percy who held a soft spot in his heart for the girl, and never truly went against her, always keeping his head down and playing good little Ministry worker, passing along as much info as he could safely get his hands on to his father for Rose's sake.

"Well, why don't we get back to the serious topic, before Miss Potter here tries to weasel out of a good thing." Kingsley's slight tease towards her legendary stubbornness made her blush and open her mouth to protest, getting cut off before she can start.

"What are we talking about?" asked Molly.

"Well, we're trying to convince Rose here to get out of England and explore the world, per Dumbledore's advice." Ron started smirking as the words got thoughtful smiles from everyone surrounding the Girl-Who-Lived (Twice).

"Wonderful idea."

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"I don't see any problem with that, as long as she stays in touch."

"Splendid!"

"Alright, alright. I'll do it," Rose's answer came with a token annoyed face that none fell for. Everyone broke into wide smiles.

"Brilliant!" Ginny started, "Come, George, we'll start a list of things Rose will need to take with her."

"Coming, sister dear." George's reply was followed by Ginny looping her arm into his and him whispering into her ear, "And you can tell me why I never heard of your little tryst with Miss Potter."

A furiously blushing Ginny ran George out of the room while Arthur and Molly came up told the girl, "We're going to head over to Andromeda's and make sure she knows you're okay before we head home. Take care dear." They filed out with their three eldest sons, leaving the three best friends and the Minister.

"Well, now that that's settled, I'll go get the goblins started on your paperwork. You know, as the Ministry has to approve all that and, as Minister, I can push it through them without anyone being the wiser." With that Kingsley left them alone.

"You'd think they wanted me to leave today," Rose pouted.

Ron's broke out in laughter and Hermione giggled as Ron told the girl, "No, we just don't want to give you a chance to change your mind. This'll be good for you. That's what matters."

Hermione added her two cents, "And don't think Molly won't throw you a going away party. Or that Ron and I are leaving this bedside before you are discharged. You won't be going away easily. But I agree with Ronald. This'll probably be the best thing for you. I'd hate to see you stuck at home all day."

Hermione was right of course. She and Ron stayed with her until she got out of the hospital and took her home where the Weasleys started getting her ready for her trip. The only thing Rose got to help with was her clothes choice, which Hermione and Ginny insisted they go all out for.

All told, it took two weeks to get Rose ready for the start of her trip. She spent a whole day out shopping with Hermione, Ginny, and Fleur (who made sure she had plenty of dresses for all occasions both fancy and casual). It was a brutal, yet amazing day with the three girls, getting Rose through her first splurge day of clothes yet barely touching her fortune.

George, while teasing Rose and Ginny mercilessly and threatening to tell everyone about their past relationship, came through with the most practical thing. He went and picked up (with Rose's money), a 10 compartment trunk filled with all her books from school and her Potter and Black libraries (minus any duplicates which he left in Grimmauld Place), a surplus of potions and potion supplies with stasis charms to keep them fresh in case she stayed in a muggle area for a long time and had no access to fresh supplies, and all sorts of other necessities that she would need for later. She would later learn that the reason he volunteered for this responsibility was so he could also hide a large stockpile of joke products in it as well.

Charlie left for three days for Romania and came back with a new set of dragon armor that fit her perfectly. He refused the payment, saying that it was a gift from all the dragon handlers and that they refused payment as well.

Bill sat Rose down one afternoon and taught about all the different places he had been to as a curse-breaker and also all the different translation charms and gave her a book on other useful charms for a traveling witch.

Fleur delivered some things from the goblins, including a list of every city that had a Gringotts branch, a list of exchange rates for every country (from galleons) her identification, passport, and a briefcase would allow the goblins to send all her statements straight to her.

Andromeda Tonks came by with Rose's godson, Teddy, for two reasons. Primarily, it was so Rose could spend several days with Teddy before she left, but also so Andromeda could help Rose with the Potter and Black seats on the Wizengamot. She ended up leaving with the proxies for both, although grudgingly.

Ron and Hermione stayed with Rose for the entirety of the process, shooting down all of her efforts to change their plans and simply spending time together before she had to leave.

Finally with everything packed and no reason to delay the trip, the Weasley's held a going away party for Rose with all of her friends, family, former teachers, and other members of the DA and Order. The entire time, Rose felt like a pinball, tossed around between everyone, receiving hugs and gifts of everything people thought she might need, from maps of magical China to some risqué lingerie (from Ginny, who smiled innocently at the glaring and furiously blushing witch).

The next day, shortly after lunch, Kingsley showed up again at the Burrow, along with Andromeda and Teddy to see Rose off. After informing the witch that everyone she had seen yesterday had a communication mirror, and making sure she got one last hug from everyone, the witch kissed Teddy's forehead one last time and stepped over to Kingsley, who had her portkey.

With Ron and Hermione smiling nearby, she was handed a single lemon drop, turned to grin at her friends and said the activation phrase, "The Next Great Adventure."

**Omake:**

"GINEVRA WEASLEY YOU GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Ginny put down her magazine on her bed and went down the stairs in confusion, wondering what she did wrong.

"What is it now? I could've sworn I've been a perfect little angel this whole week, since Rose was getting ready to leave."

Molly Weasley held up a letter to her daughter, who took it carefully and started reading.

_Dear Mum,_

_I just wanted to let you know that apparently, ickle Gin-Gin has been keeping secrets from you. I wasn't aware that she had been keeping it from you so I thought I'd be the one to let you know. I and your daughter dated most of her 4__th__ year and partially into the next summer. _

_Just thought you ought to have been aware of that._

_Your (adopted) daughter,_

_Rose Lily Potter_

_P.S. Gin, this is for your parting gift._

Ginny paled as she looked up at her mother.

"Wha... what about it, Mum?"

Mollly narrowed her eyes and Ginny flinched.

_Damn that girl. _


	2. An Itsy Bitsy Spider

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews. I own a lot of things. Like the clothes on my back, and… No. That's about it. I certainly don't own Harry Potter or the Avengers. Now let's meet a little spider.**

**Okay, honest to Merlin, I rewrote this 4 times and was never happy with this chapter. But…. It's important for the plot. So meh. **

**I will not make you suffer through my attempts at translation. Here, take this:**

_Another language (like this chapter, she's in Russia, so Russian)_

English

**Chapter 1: An Itsy Bitsy Spider  
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**September 1998**

Rose couldn't have chosen a better place to start her journey than magical Russia. During World War Two and the subsequent Cold War, the Russians had developed the World's largest and most deadly supply of Battle Magics, while still keeping out of the Dark Arts while doing so. It was here she met one of the friendliest bastards she would ever have the pleasure of meeting. Grigori Vorobev was a young Russian Battle Magics Master that did not take kindly to being put on his ass by our young Miss Potter on their first meeting. What followed was one of the fiercest friendly rivalries in the history of magical Britain-Russian relations. Rose, only lacking a Mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts by technicality (of not applying), constantly sparred and learned Battle Magics from Grigori while subsequently teaching him about DADA and the art of fighting in true combat (since she was the war veteran in the room). Their duels were truly frightening to watch, according to the other Battle Masters that showed up to watch. Rose found Battle Magics easy to learn and soon found herself on par with the apprentices that had been learning the art for years.

When she wasn't learning the Art of Battle from the Russian wizards, she was frequenting the local Gringotts branch to take them up on their offer of lessons with her goblin daggers. Those lessons were not as easy for Rose as learning Battle Magics. After a solid month of lessons, she still got knocked onto her ass by her goblin tutors within seconds. The goblins truly were hard bastards when it came to fighting.

To say that Hermione was not impressed with her constant training was an understatement.

"You've been there for two months and all you've done is train! You're supposed to go out and enjoy yourself!"

Okay, maybe she had a point. Still, training with Grigori was fun. He was fun to be around and when they weren't trying to outdo each other, they were just talking and having fun. She could honestly call him a great friend.

It was after that mirror call that Rose found herself standing atop a roof in the city of Moscow. Not wanting to deal with the people down on the streets, she was making use of her large magical core and was apparating from rooftop to rooftop, getting a unique view of the city. It also gave her 'saving people thing' a workout.

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Natasha Romanoff was not having a good day.

It had started like any normal day. Getting up to get wailed on by her KGB trainers, then spending hours with a KGB agent, working on her acting skills, getting a vicious slap or kick every time she messed up, then on to her next trainer for whatever abuse they had doled up for her, etc.

Now, however, she found herself running through the streets of Moscow, hardly believing how stupid she had been. The open door to her freedom, or so she had believed, was a trap, no doubt to prove just how futile trying to escape was.

Natasha knew she had been followed from the moment she had hit the streets, and now she had several agents in full pursuit and gaining ground fast. As fast as she was, she still had no chance. She had even sprained her ankle a few moments ago. She turned down into an alleyway that looked promising to be greeted with a dead end and no way to climb and she knew this was the end of her escape attempt. She turned to face the agents that were now walking calmly into the alley and was distracted by the strangest sight. A woman was standing on a roof, wearing some strange robe-like clothing, looking at her strangely. It was enough of a distraction that she missed the first agents move and took a punch straight to the gut and was then thrown back into the brick wall behind her where she hit her head and blacked out.

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When Natasha awoke, she kept her eyes closed and breathing steady, having long ago learned to take in her surroundings before alerting anyone to her new sleep status. The first thing that she thought was odd was how good she felt. Normally her handlers would let her suffer through her non-threatening injuries as a learning experience. The next thing she found was that she was not on her standard cot, but on a comfortable bed, with warm sheets covering her. That was strange enough to peak her curiosity enough to peak open her eyes a smidge to determine her location. Whatever Natasha was expecting, a hotel room was not it. She opened her eyes fully to show a standard single bed hotel room, with her occupying the bed and someone else occupying the chair in the corner.

Natasha noticed to her relief that the person occupying the chair was asleep with a book propped on her lap. It was then that she noticed it was the same woman that she saw on the roof outside the alley. At second glance, the raven-headed woman didn't look that special. She had an athletic build, but didn't look capable of taking down the agents that had cornered her. She had taken off the strange clothing in favor of flannel pajamas. She looked, at least to Natasha, completely normal.

Natasha slipped out of the bed, not wanting to stay in one place if it meant risking her freedom and examined herself carefully. She was wearing pajamas that must have belonged to the woman in the chair. She didn't have any noticeable injuries, but taking one step quickly dissuaded her of that notion.

_Dammit! Of all the times to sprain her ankle!_

Composing herself, Natasha pushed through the pain easily and made her way to the door, intent on slipping out, when her eye caught something on the table next to the television. Eight KGB badges.

"_And where do you think you're going?"_

Natasha Romanoff, 13 year old spy, actress, and seductress in training did not jump in fright and scream like a little girl. At least, if she ever retold this story, that's what she would say. In reality however, that's exactly what she did.

The woman sat up quickly and approached Natasha quickly, but non-threateningly. Nevertheless, Natasha felt threatened. "_Don't come any closer!"_

The woman stopped and spoke softly, "_I'm not going to hurt you, but you are in no condition to be getting up. You are recovering from a concussion and still have a sprained ankle."_

Now that she mentioned it, she did feel a little light-headed. She shook it off and pointed at the badges. _"How did you get those?"_

"_I took them from the men who hurt you. I'm not from around here. What do they signify?"_

"_You've never heard of the KGB?" _Natasha thought that was weird. She also thought it was weird that she wasn't using her training. She was just blurting stuff out. Why was that?

Natasha tried to concentrate and ended up trying too much for her concussed brain to handle. She blacked out again.

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When she woke up again, she was once again under the warm blankets, but this time the woman was sitting in the chair which she had moved right next to the bed.

The woman noticed her awake and smiled.

"_Good morning, you plan on trying to sneak out concussed again?"_

Natasha realized it was futile. If she couldn't get out the door, how would she get out of the building?

"_No. Who are you? How long have I been out?"_

"_Calm down."_ The woman eased._ "My name is Rose. You were out for a day before you woke up and tried to sneak out. Then you passed out for another 4 hours. Are you hungry?"_

Natasha nodded. Rose ordered her room service and helped Natasha eat it. She then helped Natasha into the bathroom so she could bathe and take care of her necessities. When Natasha was finished, she was completely confused. She had never had anyone treat her this way. Everyone was cruel to her and hit her, even when they were helping her. They said it helped build her character, but she hated it.

Rose gave Natasha some new pajamas and ordered her to bed rest, which Natasha complied with, falling asleep easily.

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Natasha woke up the next morning with Rose in the bed beside her, which proved beyond any doubt that Rose was neither from any spy agency nor out to hurt her. No agent would willingly sleep beside an unknown.

Natasha looked at the alarm clock that said 4AM and for the first time in her life, fell back into the pillows to sleep some more.

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When she woke up again, the alarm clock said 9AM, but the room was empty.

Natasha's paranoia immediately went to the worst situation. None of this is real. This is a ploy by the agency. I'll never see Rose again.

Natasha started to hyperventilate just as the hotel door opened to Rose with carryout breakfast.

Rose saw her and rushed to her side and was immediately enveloped by a crushing hug from Natasha.

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When the young girl hugged Rose, Rose's brain immediately connected to her own childhood.

_Abuse. Has to be abuse. _

Her eyes traveled to the badges.

_But not by family. It's something else._

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Rose and Natasha stayed in the hotel room for close to a week while Natasha's ankle healed (remarkably quick, but Natasha was too distracted to notice).

During the first half of the week, Rose talked to Natasha about her own childhood. She told her about her abusive relatives and how she was basically a slave to them.

Halfway through the week, Natasha burst into tears and told Rose everything: her real name, about the KGB, her training. Once Natasha started, she found she couldn't stop.

Natasha had finally found someone that she could confide in. She had finally found a friend.

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It all came crashing down for Natasha at the end of that week.

Rose was out taking care of something. She had said something about meeting a friend, which didn't seem odd. She had met the guy. Mr Vorobev was a handsome man that she could tell had a huge crush on Rose, even if Rose couldn't see it. Natasha had thought that was funny. As someone trained as a seductress, she could see the signs of attraction. The man worshiped her every word, for God's sake, and like now, he was always inviting her out for something.

Natasha sat in the chair in Rose's hotel room, eating a bowl of soup and watching television when suddenly the door burst open and people started entering the room. Natasha had taken her guard down, thinking she was safe. The man in front immediately fired a dart-gun at Natasha and put her out cold.

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Rose walked through the lobby of her hotel to the elevator. She had just gotten back from a training session with Grigori. She felt bad about lying to Natasha about the nature of her outing. Grigori had helped her make it seem like they were going out sightseeing or some nonsense.

She knew she couldn't tell her anything, which is why she planned to move Natasha today. Natasha was fully healed and she no reason to wait any longer. She wanted to get her to safety as soon as possible, which meant a squib family that Grigori had gotten her in contact with. She hoped Natasha would be okay with that. _There aren't really any other good options, _Rose thought as she turned the corner to see her door smashed in.

Rose heart dropped as she had seen similar situations before with Death Eaters. She knew she would either find nothing or a body. She was also too smart to go running in unprepared. She cast a _homenum revelio_ that revealed two people waiting inside the room. She kept her wand as she entered the room and cast a two quick stunners that knocked them both out.

She looked around the room and saw nothing of importance except for a folder with her picture on it.

They knew about her. There was no name on the folder, but it did have "Kill on Sight" written on it, so she figured they didn't need a name.

Nevertheless, this proved that Rose needed to leave the country. There was nothing she could do to save Natasha. She couldn't risk the Statute of Secrecy on something like this. Even if she succeeded Natasha would be thrown back to the muggles and Rose would be locked away for life for such an exposure, Dark Lord Slayer or not.

Her hands were well and truly tied.

As for herself, Grigori had told her that she shouldn't mess with the KGB. Even a powerfully trained witch like her couldn't compete with them on finding and killing people. She would not be safe in Russia any longer.

It was with a heavy heart that Rose sent a letter to Grigori, obliviated and woke up the two agents with a few flicks of her wand and apparated away before they could open their eyes.

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Natasha woke up in pain. She couldn't describe it any other way.

"_Well, look who's awake. It's the little runaway. How do you feel Miss Runaway? Are you in pain?"_

She shut her eyes to avoid looking at the agent that was speaking to her. She prayed this wasn't real, but the teardrop falling down her face dissuaded her of that notion.

"_Aww, the poor runaway is crying. Maybe I shouldn't tell her about her little friend's death until later."_

"_No…"_

Natasha was surprised by her own voice. She sounded weak and pathetic. She felt empty inside. She was breaking and she knew it.

"_Oh, yes…. We made the beautiful girl scream. You see, we don't like when people take our stuff. People that take our stuff get dead. But this hid one of our things from us for quite a while. She was fun to play with. Right up until that last breath. I'd let you go to the funeral, but I don't it'd be an open casket, not that you'd recognize her anyway."_

Natasha's heart broke in that instant and she was filled with dark determination. She would train, she would hide, and when she was strong enough, she would kill these bastards. Every last one of them.

"_Now, little runaway, let's talk about your punishment…."_

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Rose supposed the sight before her was supposed to be breathtaking, but she had lived in Hogwarts for 6 years. Rose was still impressed by the Russian Hall of Battle Magics, but she was able to keep her jaw off the ground. The building was extremely large, styled after most buildings from the Russian Revival period (similar to the Saint Basil's Cathedral) and was located deep in Siberia.

That didn't mean she was able to keep a shit-eating grin off her face. Rose had been looking forward to meeting some Battle Magicians and finding some books on the subject. She figured she would enjoy Battle Magic just as much as she enjoyed Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Rose schooled her features into one of moderate excitement (wouldn't do to appear too eager) and walked through the doors of the Hall. The Entrance Hall had a couple small groups of people chatting and several people were facing the door and noticed her come in. Most ignored her, but Rose's luck forced someone to make a scene.

A young teenager, no doubt some lowly apprentice yelled out across the Hall.

"_Hey, Bitch! You lost? The whorehouses are in the city!"_

Rose's face immediately closed off into the mask she used when she had an encounter with blood purists as the Hall fell silent and everyone turned to see what was happening. Honestly, everyone looked like they didn't care. However, her defeat of Voldemort was still fresh and some of the older Masters were present at the last meeting of the ICW when his defeat was announced. One such Master was in the Entrance Hall and immediately called out to the Apprentice as he walked to greet Rose.

"Shut your mouth about things you do not understand, boy. Everyone is welcome here."

He finally reached Rose and bowed low to her. "Greetings, my name is Battle Master Yurievich. Welcome to the Russian Hall of Battle Magics. How can we assist you today, Miss Potter?"

Rose's eye twitched at being recognized and opened her mouth to reply when the Apprentice decided to shove his foot in his mouth again.

"_Master, don't lower yourself to this riff-raff. Let one of the aides escort her out." _

Rose had thoroughly had enough of this little punk and let her displeasure bleed into her words as she ignored the boy.

"_Do you let all your apprentices speak back to you, Master Yurievich?"_ Rose asked the older man in Russian.

Master Yurievich gave Rose a genuine smile and answered, "The boy is young, and he has yet to learn humility through combat. Nor has he recognized you or your name, clearly showing how little he pays attention to the rest of the world. He will learn eventually."

Rose arched an eyebrow at Yurievich's continued use of English as she responded, "Well, at least you recognize it. _I do suppose you and your fellow Masters are not at fault for the lad's issues."_

As Rose flickered her eyes over to the apprentice, she saw her efforts to get under his skin was working just as it used to against Malfoy back at Hogwarts as the color of his face was rapidly changing to resemble a tomato.

"_How dare you? I am a Battle Magician, you bitch! I challenge you to a duel!" _

Rose made an appearance of thinking about it before shaking her head at the lad.

"_It'd be a waste of my time. Tell me Master Yurievich, are there any Masters here that would be willing to duel me? I am curious as to how I would stack up against a real Battle Magician."_

"_Of course Miss Potter; I do believe Master Vorobev, our youngest Master, would like a duel with you," _Yurievich answered politely before continuing in English, "and if my English companions are correct, you are a Mistress in Defense Against the Dark Arts in all but the certificate, so all of us should get a lesson. Tell me, did you truly cast a corporal patronus at 15?"

Rose blushed a little at the praise and shook her head, "Actually, it was at 13."

Master Yurievich had a look of astonishment on his face before he schooled his features back into a genuine smile and chuckled. _"Well, this shall truly be an amazing duel then. I think I will gather the rest of the Masters and Apprentices to watch when we have your duel. Would you like to have it now?"_

"_If it's not too much trouble, that would be great." _

"_Not at all, here I'll get you an aide to take you to get prepared, I will get everything else taken care of."_

As Rose was led away by one of the aides, Yurievich turned to the furious apprentice and told him very shortly, _"Watch your tongue, young one. You never know when one of the most powerful magicians on the Earth will walk through those doors." _With that, he walked away to find a young Master.

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Rose adjusted her last piece of dragon armor that she had received from Charlie and the other handlers. She absolutely loved it. It fit her perfectly and was very form-fitting, but she knew it would protect her from a great deal of low to medium strength spells. She didn't know a whole lot about Battle Magic, so she didn't want to risk it.

She did know however that she was more than just lucky. There was a reason she could defeat Voldemort that went beyond luck and the convenient mastering of the Elder Wand, just like there was a reason Dolohov's attack on her was the only one that she needed help repelling after the war ended. It finally clicked after the 2nd ambush she fought off that she realized she had been comparing her skill to Voldemort and Dumbledore, and while she was nowhere near their expertise with spells, she was well ahead of everyone in her generation and was better than all of the Death Eaters.

As Rose followed her aide to the dueling arena, she centered her focus on the upcoming duel. It was her first friendly duel/fight in 2 years and she hoped she remembered not too be too rough in her spells. It wouldn't be good for her to accidentally kill someone. They finally arrived at the door to the arena and stepped through.

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Grigori Vorobev, recently named Master of Battle Magics was excited. He always enjoyed a good fight, and his former teacher Master Yurievich had just told him he was about to go up against his toughest opponent yet. All Yurievich would tell him was that this person was only lacking the paper that confirmed someone a Master of Defense Against the Dark Arts and that he should take this duel very seriously.

He stood in the center of the large indoor duel arena where he had dueled countless times. It was a coliseum-type pit arena with stands surrounding it, but it was the length and width of a Quidditch Pitch. That was a necessity for Battle Magic, especially the Russian brand of it.

Battle Magic was a relatively new branch of magic, having been established during the Dark Ages where most others had been around since the time of the Egyptian Pharoahs. Battle Magic was designed for exactly as it sounded; battle. Where other branches had small areas of effect, Battle Magic focused on the large scale or on extremely devastating effects. It was extremely effective in large scale engagements and during medieval castle sieges, but had rarely been used in muggle wars because shortly after its foundation, the Statute of Secrecy was signed and Battle Magic was restricted to Wizarding conflicts.

That was why such a large duel arena was necessary. It made it hard to fill the stadium, but that wasn't a big deal. The arena was enchanted to allow all the spectators to hear perfectly, even if someone was whispering.

He wondered who his opponent would be. He had kept up with the newest Masters from around the world, but Yurievich had told him they didn't hold their mastery. He knew there was a middle aged man from Tibet who had been denied his mastery in several branches of magic because he didn't have enough power to pull off the harder bits of magic, but he was a genius at theory. He didn't know if DADA was one of those he had studied. There was also that Argentinian wizard who had a lot of raw power and was supposed to be good at DADA, but everyone thought his prowess in DADA was because he was secretly studying the Dark Arts as well.

He was brought out of his musing by the doors to the opponent's entrance opening and cursed silently. He had forgotten to think about the witches he might face. Yurievich had specifically been non-gender specific when talking about her, that bastard. He used the time it took for her to reach him to try to place her identity.

He didn't recognize her. She was very pretty, with long black hair tied into a braid behind her back, emerald green eyes that looked like they pierced Grigori's soul (and Grigori put up his occlumency shields, weak as they were), beautiful pale skin, and had some of the finest battle armor he had ever seen on. She was a stunning witch, but he had no idea who she was.

There was the Nigerian witch that he'd never seen a picture of, but he was sure she had black skin. There were several American witches that were great duelists, but they were all focused on straight dueling for competitions, not DADA. There was also a Russian hermit witch that was said to have been powerful and beautiful, but she was older, well into her 50s.

To Grigori's amazement, he didn't know her. It was a shot to his pride. He used most of his free time studying the powerful magi around the world.

He even used his knowledge to throw his opponents a little off their game by introducing himself and then telling his opponent all about their own accomplishments. He couldn't do that here, but he did have one more trick, that he could only use against his opponents of the fairer sex. To be blunt, Grigori was handsome and charming. At 22 years old, he was a lean young man, with shoulder length brown hair he kept tied back, with sky blue eyes and perfect teeth. He didn't gloat about it or use it to woo women, but he was aware of the tactical advantage of it. Get a witch flustered before a match, and they didn't prepare properly.

The young witch finally reached Grigori, so he put on his most brilliant smile. He walked right up to the young woman, bowed low as he took her hand to kissed the back of it and came back up to introduce himself.

"_Greetings, I am Grigori Vorobev. Youngest Master of Battle MagicsMagics in history, three-time national dueling champion, and your opponent." _This next bit hurt him a little on the inside. "_Might I inquire as to what your name is? Master Yurievich did not give it to me. He only praised your abilities."_

The woman smirked a little as if unfazed, but enjoying his effort and raised an eyebrow.

"_My name is Rose Potter. I am from England."_

_Damn, _Grigori thought, _not only can I not remember where I've heard that name, but she didn't give me any of her accomplishments. The only hint is 'England'._

"_Have you been in any official duels, Miss Potter?"_

"_Just Rose, please. I don't hold much for formalities. And no, the only duels I've been in have been people trying to kill me, so this is a nice change of pace."_

_Again, damn, _he mused,_ Nothing specific, but she's definitely got experience. How can she be young and talk about people trying to kill her so simply_.

"_Pretty much Rose, don't try to kill me or hit me while I'm down. Otherwise, we have healers here who will heal anything that we can do to each other. Here comes the referee now._"

The referee gave them the longer version of those rules and retreated to a broom to keep an eye on them.

Grigori walked away from Rose as they both went to their starting area and cursed again. His charm had no effect on her. She took it in stride, even returned it.

Grigori was wrapped up in his thoughts and almost missed the referee start the countdown. He was ready though. He wouldn't hold back. He knew she had to be good to impress his mentor.

The countdown hit zero and Grigori started things off.

"_Bol'shoy Incendio"_

Grigori's spell summoned a huge wall of fire that barreled straight towards Rose and he barely heard her call out her own spell calmly.

"Protego Circumdate Ignis"

Grigori watched as Rose bent some of his own fire into a circular shield that cut straight through his giant wall large enough for her to step through without a single burn. She flicked her wand at her body to apply a cooling charm and then sent a silent spell straight at Grigori's feet.

He knew it would miss, but he guessed that was the point, so he pointed his wand at his feet and cast again.

"Terra elvellere!"

Grigori's spell pulled the Earth underneath him and with his guidance, he stayed upon it as it shot into the air and hung for a moment as Rose's Reducto hit where he was just standing. Had he still been there, he would have been thrown into the air with a bunch of large rocks hitting him.

He turned back to Rose only for another Reducto to hit the piece of Earth that he had suspended in the air, knocking him back to the ground.

He landed painfully, but quickly got back up expecting another attack and was surprised to see Rose pointing her wand straight at him, but otherwise waiting patiently.

Grigori inwardly smirked, _Bad move, Rose_.

Grigori replicated her attack with a more powerful explosion spell, nicknamed the canon.

"_Butio vzorvat'sya_ "

The spell went right to Rose's feet and exploded seeing debris flying into the air. Grigori thought Rose would be too injured to fight after that spell and was surprised when the dust settled to show nothing in front of him.

Grigori barely had a moment to wonder where Rose went when he felt a wand dig into his back.

"_Dead. _Stupefy"

Grigori went black.

He woke up not a second later to Rose standing over him with a grin on her beautiful face.

"_Want to try again, Grigori?"_

Pride firmly killed, Grigori accepted. The second duel went better for him, but not by much.

Grigori started off with the opposite of his first duel.

"G_lacius procella" _

A large flurry of cold wind, snow, and hail barreled towards Rose at Hurricane speeds.

Rose merely kicked up some dust in front of her and used a simple Earth-to-Earth transfiguration that changed the dust into a solid dirt wall. As the ice storm hit the wall, Grigori noticed it start to crack, but before he could even smile or press the advantage, Rose transfigured it again into solid stone.

Grigori canceled the spell, frustrated, and shot the 'canon' at the wall of stone, but Rose was gone again. Grigori turned around quickly to see a red spell coming straight at him. He hit the ground and let it pass over him and from the ground cast again.

"_Aeris scobis"_

The air near Rose quickly filled with sawdust, but Rose didn't seem fazed to Grigori. She just flicked her wand at her head and cast a bubble-head charm and spun on her heel and vanished.

_Apparition!_ Grigori, thought. How could he forget? Very few used it in duels, but in real life, people used everything they could to get an advantage. Of course, Rose would, but it should tire her out quick. She shouldn't be able to apparate again so soon.

Grigori spun around to find Rose, but soon felt his own sawdust hitting his back from a wind-spell Rose cast. He still couldn't see Rose and now was distracted by the sawdust. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another red spell fly towards him, but couldn't dodge it this time and felt his wand fly from his fingers and stop in midair twenty yards from him. He then saw Rose end her disillusionment charm and start twirling his wand around her fingers, but Grigori wasn't done yet.

He apparated straight in front of her and grabbed his wand, enjoyed the sight of her shocked, and fired his most powerful wind spell between them, knowing it would send them both flying backwards.

"_Magnus veter_"

As expected, they both flew 20 yards across the field in opposite directions, but Grigori got up first and saw Rose's wand 5 feet away from her. A quick summoning charm had it into his own hand and he smirked towards Rose, but was shocked when she fired another spell at him from another wand.

He easily dodged the spell and brought up Rose's wand and started to cast another powerful spell. This one would create spray stunners at her. It took a lot of energy, but Grigori thought it worthwile.

"_Stupefy podavlyat'!"_

Grigori wanted to smack that smirk off Rose's face when the wand suddenly turned into a rubber chicken and Rose used his bewilderment to easily stun him.

The next time he woke up, it was not on the field of the arena, but in the Hall's infirmary with a healer, Rose and Master Yulievich all surrounding him. He sat up and asked the most pressing question of the moment.

"_How did you turn your wand into a chicken?"_

Rose giggled at him as his mentor chuckle.

"_And why am I in the infirmary? I got stunned, to my humiliation. I shouldn't be injured."_

Rose stopped giggling to answer, _"You just hit your head funny, and nobody wants to risk a head injury to help your pride. As for my wand, I had it enchanted so a switching spell switches it and a joke wand in my holster whenever it's summoned away from me."_

Master Yurievich looked extremely impressed by that, which made Grigori slightly envious. To impress Yurievich is difficult, yet Rose seemed able to do it easily.

His mentor remembered his former pupil and turned back to him to reassure him, "_You did wonderfully, Master Vorobev. Remember the differences between Battle Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Specifically remember that DADA is designed to directly counter one of the toughest and most powerful branches of magic. There's a reason there aren't many Masters of Defense."_

A light went off inside Grigori's head. He remembered now that there were only about 15 Masters of Defense on the planet; the lowest of any branch of magic. The next lowest was Transfiguration, because it had such high power expectations and relied on extremely quick creativity to earn your Mastery. Defense required heavy understanding in the theory of many different types of spells, instincts on when to dodge and when to shield, enough power to create the powerful _'Protego Aegis', _which protected against everything except the strongest or most vile of spells, and finally required experience. You were required to take down a single evil Dark Wizard in combat to apply for testing for your Mastery.

That meant Rose had a ton of experience, knowledge, and had defeated at least one Dark Wizard if Yurievich said she could easily be a Master in that branch of Magic.

"_So, Master Vorobev,"_ Rose's soft voice cut through Grigori's musings, "_Master Yurievich here said you could show me around a bit and let me use the Hall's library, if you don't mind of course?"_

Grigori nodded eagerly. _"Of course! I'd love to! And if you'd like, I could teach you some Battle Magic myself!"_

"_Great! Let me just go change out of this armor. It isn't great for walking around in. Excuse me."_

Grigori watched her leave and wondered about why he was so fascinated by the girl. She was powerful, smart, resistant to his charm, beautiful, a brilliant duelist, and many other things he couldn't think of.

And then it him.

Master Yurievich left the infirmary guffawing loudly. He saw it too.

Grigori was in love.

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Rose came out of the locker room she had left her clothes in feeling refreshed. She had taken a quick hot shower and got dressed again. She couldn't help but feel good. She had just defeated a Master in a duel. Easily.

Said Master was now leaning against the wall dressed in the standard Battle Master robes waiting for her. She smiled.

"_So, Master Vorobev, where are you going to show me first?" _She asked with genuine excitement.

"_Dining Hall, first. It's almost lunchtime. Then we'll hit the rest of the Hall, and please," _he smiled down at the beautiful girl that stood a head shorter than her, "_it's just Grigori." _

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_Dear Girgori,_

_I should have listened to you. You were right. The KGB found us. They took Natasha away while I was off training with you and were waiting in my hotel room for me. They never even touched me, but you know they'll find me off guard one day. _

_I have to leave, Grigori. Russia isn't safe anymore. I'm on to the next country to learn some more and meet new people. Hopefully I'll find someone there that is just as awesome as you and Natasha. _

_Thank you for being a wonderful friend._

_Love,_

_Rose_

_PS: I'll keep writing when I can. You can post anything for me to Hermione Granger in England. I'll also let you know when I stop traveling. _

Several hours after the letter was first read, Master Yurievich found the young wizard passed out with a bottle of empty Firewhiskey in one hand and a tear-stained letter in the other.

Omake 2:

**Easy Dark Lords**

Rose was upset. Apparently, she didn't get a normal vacation. She didn't get an action-free vacation. And she certainly didn't get a Dark Lord-free vacation.

And Rose had just gotten off the plane two days ago.

Rose was in Kirishi, a Russian town between Moscow and St Petersburg that had a large wizarding community. Unlike the UK, Russia kept their wizarding shops in the smaller towns, instead of in the capitol or one of the larger cities.

It was in Russia's largest wizarding alleyway that Rose stood reading a Wanted Poster for a Dark Lord that she had never heard of. Lord Poletsmert. She thought the name sounded just as ridiculous as Voldemort, but when she asked certain people about him, she got a similar reaction. People were frightened of his bloody name.

She was further surprised that they knew where the guy was, but they just didn't go after him. That didn't make any sense to her. But it wasn't her problem. She was trying to curb her "saving people thing" just a little bit, and she was doing a good job of it.

She had just gotten enough info about the Dark Lord to satisfy her curiosity when a loud explosion tore through the alleyway. The attacking force was more cowardly than Voldemort's crew, and left before the dust settled from the first explosion. Rose made it to the scene of the explosion in time to see the life leave the eyes of a little boy.

She saw aurors already on the scene and made a snap decision.

She apparated.

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4 hours later, Rose Lily Potter appeared in the middle of the Russian Ministry of Magic with a small bag over her shoulder. She ignored the security guard and walked straight to right side of the atrium to a set of double doors that were labeled Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

She fired a weak banishment charm at the doors that made them swing open violently and stormed into the room as the Head Auror stepped out of her office.

"_What on Earth is going on out here?"_

Rose walked straight passed the aurors that had stood up from their cubicles and pulled out their wands and handed the Head Auror the bag and a hotel card.

"_My name is Rose Potter. I will be at that hotel in room 527 for a few more weeks, maybe months, if you have any questions for me."_

Rose turned to leave and as she made it to the doors, she didn't even turn around as she told the room, _"Honestly, it was rather easy. I didn't even break a sweat. You should be ashamed to call yourselves aurors."_

The aurors turned back to their boss who was staring into the bag and had gone deathly pale. Inside was the head of one Dark Lord Poletsmert.

**AN:/ I solemnly swear that I did not check this for errors more than once. So, sorry in advance. I was happy to get it over with and posted. Honestly, if it takes this long to post the next chapter, I will be embarrassed. Scream at me in the reviews if you notice errors. I won't fuss. I deserve it today. **


	3. Mistress Potter

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews.**

**I own none of this. **

**Be aware of the time skip! I've taken advantage of some things, like Banner already having his accident by this point. It's fanfiction. I can do that. :D**

**Okay, now here's the deal. This was supposed to be chapter 4. HOWEVER, Bruce Banner refused to be written, so he shall lose the chapter devoted to him. We shall move along in the story. **

_Another language_

English

_~Parsel~_

**Chapter 2: Mistress Potter**

**November 2000**

Rose walked out of the airport gate and went towards baggage claim. In the two years that she had been traveling, Rose learned that she enjoyed muggle long distance traveling much more than international portkeys. She especially loved the Mediterranean Cruise. It was the one thing she did that wasn't interrupted by mortal danger.

Rose couldn't help but chuckle as she looked out the window. The weather in the Mediterranean Sea was much different than the lovely weather of her home country, which of course meant it was cold, overcast and pouring down rain.

Two years had passed since she had been in England, and Rose felt that was way too long. She missed her friends. The only friends she had made while traveling had been Grigori and Master Yurievich (even if she couldn't call him by his first name). She might have considered adding that Bruce guy she met in Brazil, but their time was cut short when he started getting panicky when some more English speakers came into the small town they were in. He was weird, but she felt at peace with him.

She had spent two weeks with him, talking about plants of all things. It had been immediately after the Russia incident and Hermione had guilted Rose into trying to learn a "safer" subject like Herbology, so Rose had asked Neville about any Masters who took random students. Mistress Chirkos in Brazil was a batty old lady who Rose quickly grew tired of, but still spent six months with.

When she met Bruce, she was supposed to be out scavenging. But it wasn't as if Chirkos would have noticed she was missing, so she hid out with him for a bit, talking about non-magical plants. After Bruce left, she quickly left Chirkos's tutelage. She still wasn't sure if the old bat knew she was there in the first place.

Now, she was back in England and she had three things on her mind: see her friends, spend a ton of time with Teddy, and finally get her bloody Mastery in DADA.

As she looked around baggage claim, she noticed people were being greeted by family and friends as they reunited. That was one thing that Rose wouldn't be doing with them and she felt a little envious of those people. But when Rose remembered why she had no-one waiting for her, she broke into a full smile. No one knew she was here.

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Her first stop was not one most would expect, but at least it was _one _of the places she could call home, if only by the technicality that she owned it. Not to mention it was the only way to get in contact with one of her newest favorite people. So, popping into Grimmauld Place like she owned the place was reasonable. What followed was probably unnecessary.

Rose put her wand to her throat, murmured 'sonorous', and called out to the house's resident hermit.

"DRAKEY-POO!"

As she cancelled the charm, Rose heard several loud expletives from the basement, as well as the clanging of several cauldrons dropping to the floor.

Rose counted to five and was not disappointed when the door to the basement flung open to reveal an extremely irritated Draco Malfoy.

"Dammit, Potter! What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?! Scratch that! You don't think, you ignorant Gryffin…"

Draco was cut off when Rose ran up to him and flung herself into his arms in a startling hug.

"What the bloody…?"

"Draco! You talk too much. Is that any way to greet your cousin?" Rose pouted, but she was having way too much fun.

After the final battle, where Draco had become a full-turncoat and started attacking Death Eaters, Rose had talked with him many times before she left. Several things became clear during those talks. For one, Draco had nowhere to go, so Rose offered Grimmauld as sanctuary, which suited him. He just wanted to be left alone to work on potions. Hermitage suited him well, even if he did put up with the occasional guest like Rose or Granger. Secondly, Rose learned that nothing was more important to Draco than family, but after his parents' deaths, his Black cousins were his closest family and he would do anything to be a part of that family. Rose also learned that Draco wasn't an ass, just snarky with everyone, including his friends, something he undoubtedly learnt from Snape. This led to the final thing Rose learned about Draco: How to push his buttons.

You don't interact with Draco Malfoy by trying to match his wits in a calm manner or get upset by his snarkiness. You interact with Draco Malfoy by acting exactly opposite him. So Rose did that. She shrugged off his attempts to rile her up, was overly expressive, and continued acting like she was happy to see him all the time. Eventually she stopped acting. She enjoyed it, and by the way Draco's eyes softened, he enjoyed it too.

"Fine. Nice to see you, cousin. Care to explain why you are 1, in England, and 2, bugging me? Shouldn't Granger or the Weasel be hoarding you to themselves right now?" Draco asked as he carefully extricated himself from Rose's arms.

"Well, that's not nice. Can't a girl come visit her favorite cousin?"

"What? Did you visit Dudley?"

Rose's eye twitched at the mention of her closer kin and Draco smirked. Point Draco.

"Strangely enough, it was easier to reconcile with you than it was him." Rose shook her head to clear the dark thoughts and grinned back at the blonde. "Are you going to offer me a drink or am I going to have to call my own house elf in my own home? I did just get off a plane, Draco."

Draco rolled his eyes and replied, "It's your fault for using that muggle crap. Kreacher!"

The old elf appeared with a faint crack and bowed, "What can Kreacher do for Master Black?"

"Two bottles of butterbeer and a single shot of firewhiskey, please. Your Mistress is home."

Kreacher looked up at that and smiled at Rose.

"Kreacher will get it right away. It is good to have the nice Mistress home again."

Kreacher popped off and Rose turned back to Draco.

"Master _Black?_"

The corner of Draco's lips turned up a bit, the only indication that he wasn't upset when he replied, "Bloody elf won't serve me as a Malfoy, but as a Black…."

Rose laughed as she grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him into the sitting room. Draco scowled at the physical contact, but Rose could tell he was far from upset. Life as a recluse didn't give much in the way of physical affection.

As they both sat down, Draco asked again, "Are you going to answer my question, or am I going to have to beat it out of you? Why are you back in England?"

Rose finally yielded and told Draco her reasons for coming home, which led to another question.

"So why come here first?" It was a moment of weakness that Draco didn't include any venom or snarky comments when he asked, so Rose was gentle with her response.

"I truly did want to see you, Draco. But I am also tired from my flight and can't put up with a raucous crowd of people right now. I need somewhere to sleep and, despite this being my home, I came here because I trust you."

The malice of his next statement was completely drowned out by the gratitude in his eyes.

"Trust is for fools, Rose."

His expression and his use of her first name made her smile brightly and tear up a little. It took a truly special type of person to understand Draco, but those who accomplished it had his undying devotion. His godfather was the only other person to manage the feat, and Draco had followed in Snape's footsteps completely, including double-crossing Voldemort. Had Snape entrusted Draco with the truth of his double-agent role, Draco would have been firmly on their side from the beginning.

Kreacher interrupted the moment by popping in with the drinks and standing off to the side, as he always did in his Mistress's presence (she always told him she liked when he hung around).

Draco immediately downed the shot of firewhiskey and Rose cried out,

"Hey, I thought that shot was for me! I want one!"

Draco and Kreacher both turned incredulous looks at Rose and as one exclaimed,

"No. We've seen you drink."

Rose pouted and crossed her arms. It wasn't her fault she was a lightweight.

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As Rose settled into her bed in Grimmauld Place that night, she smiled and thought about how far Draco had come. Sure, he was now a recluse, spending all his time in Grimmauld's basement working on potions, but he was honestly happy. His life was no longer one big question. He knew exactly who he was and what he wanted.

Thinking about Draco made her look at herself. Did she know what she wanted?

Unfortunately, her sleep-deprived brain only came up with two things.

Kreacher's pancakes and her friends.

Everything else could be figured out later.

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As Draco watched Rose floo away the next morning, he couldn't help but internally smile. Not three years ago, Rose was Draco's biggest enemy. Now, however, he was following in his Godfather's footsteps. He remembered his Godfather telling him one day about how brutally horrendous Albus Dumbledore was at Potions. At the time, Draco had laughed, unbelieving. Severus had quickly proven his point via several pensieve memories of the old man messing up a simple headache cure and having to ask Severus for one.

The similarities Draco was now drawing were quite humorous, but also gave Draco a great sense of peace. He would gladly be Rose Potter's Severus Snape.

Draco looked back down at his nearly completed Potions Mastery paper and absent mindedly called Kreacher for more pancakes. It was another thing they both agreed on. The elf made heavenly pancakes.

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Andromeda Tonks was a bit harried this morning and she cursed her grandson's godmother for the fifteenth time that morning.

She didn't blame her for not taking Teddy. She was more than happy to do that bit, and would probably have fought Rose Potter for the right to raise the boy.

No, she didn't blame her for that. Andromeda blamed the Head of the Black family for giving her the bloody Potter/Black proxies.

It was now the morning of a Wizengamot session and Teddy's usual babysitter, Parvati Patil was unavailable for some reason. She hadn't paid much attention to the floo call beyond that point. Now she couldn't find anyone trustworthy to watch the young metamorphmagus boy. She couldn't let just anyone watch him, he was Rose Potter's godson, for Merlin's sake, and everyone knew that.

She suddenly remembered Molly Weasley and almost slapped herself for forgetting the wonderful Weasley matron. The woman would be ecstatic to watch Teddy, and there was no one better, save one exception.

Andromeda was walking towards the fireplace when the floo activated and out stepped that one exception herself.

Andromeda blinked back her surprise and instead flung herself at the girl, babbling quickly,

"I don't know why you are, but thank Merlin you are here. Watch Teddy for me. I'm running late for the Wizengamot. I'll be back at two this afternoon. Bye."

And with that, Andromeda Tonks went straight to the fireplace and flooed to the Ministry without another word, leaving a dumbfounded Rose Potter standing in her sitting room.

Rose barely had a moment to remove the fuzzies from her brain before a sleepy looking toddler came into the room in wolf pajamas. Rose smiled as Edward 'Teddy' Lupin rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and finally opened them.

"Mama?"

He rubbed his eyes again as Rose's heart seemingly stopped. _Did he just?_

The toddler opened his eyes again and focused on her before screaming,

"MAMA!"

He jumped into Rose's now outstretched arms and Rose hugged the stuffing out of her godson.

When he finally pulled back from his bear-hug and was content to only be lightly held by Rose, she finally asked the question she knew she had to.

"Sweetheart, why are you calling me Mama? You know I'm not your real Mama, right?" Rose looked around and pointed at a picture of Nymphadora Tonks. "That's your real Mama."

The boy shook his head at her. "Nuh-uh. That's my Mum. She was brave. You're my Mama. You're brave too!"

Rose didn't know which was more astonishing; the boy's remarkable ability to speak so clearly for a toddler or the fact that he was still going to keep calling her Mama. The small part of her brain that wasn't still on overload from her new title recalled that this was the son of Remus Lupin being raised by a Black, so of course he was a bright child.

Rose pushed all other thoughts out of her head. She had a godson to play with a spoil, and she was going to cherish every moment of it.

Now it was time to pull off her best Sirius Black impression. Andromeda would be pleased. Where was the sugar?

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Kingsley looked back down at the letter he had received and sighed. It was a simple favor, but as Minister, he tried not to make it a habit of doing these small favors for people like this. But he could never turn Rose down, so he called for his aid.

"I need to see Granger and Trainee Weasley in my office, please."

As the aid went to comply with his order, Kingsley thought back to the good that Rose had unknowingly done by simply going on vacation. The announcement went a completely opposite way that they had thought. Instead of merely accepting that Rose was merely on vacation, the general consensus was that she had either abandoned Britain, was disgusted by Britain or that she felt unsafe in Britain. All three possibilities had people scrambling for reform, and Andromeda (political demon that she was) took advantage of the confusion to push through almost all of her proposals. She passed them off as Rose's earnest wishes, which wasn't technically a lie. Rose wanted those things; she had just never said so in quite so many words.

He was broken from his musings by the entrance of the two people he had asked for. Merlin, they were fast. Keeping up with Rose Potter during her adventures had made them two of the most efficient and competent people in the Ministry.

Hermione now managed one of the reform teams that would need to be reassigned soon now that most of the reforms had passed. She was probably well on her way to several department head offers, but Kingsley had been surprised when she had talked to him candidly about never wanting his position, no matter how far in the future. The highest she wanted was department head, so he planned to ship her off for a season or two with the Department of Mysteries to see how she liked it. Her future was either there in research or with the Wizengamot Offices.

Ron had followed through with applying to be an auror. Despite the Ministry's suggestion of placing him immediately in the Auror Corps, he had insisted on the full training, claiming to not be good enough. The trainers at the academy thought he was insane. He wasn't as good as the better aurors, but he was easily capable of flying straight through the auror exams. The trainers personally thought he was only comparing himself to his best friend and had forgotten that most starting aurors were not at that level. They just shook their head and let him train. They had to slow him down several times.

"You wanted to see us, Minister?" Hermione asked.

"Sit, please. And for the hundredth time, it's just Kingsley when we're in here."

Hermione at least appeared sheepish as she sat down. He hoped she would at least break out of the habit when his term ended, if Andromeda let him out of another term.

"What's the call for, sir?" Ron asked while he sat down. The young man spoke with a calm confidence that he had lacked a few years ago. Hunting down the people that were after his friend gave him that. "You haven't called both of us here at the same time in a while."

Kingsley thanked everything under the stars that he had been through the acting program of Auror Training. This next bit was crucial according to the letter.

"I won't lie, I'm worried about you two. You're working yourselves into the ground." This was a massive lie. The two were handling everything better than anticipated, even with schedules most people would find downright cruel. Kingsley just plastered on his best fake frown and plowed through Hermione's attempted interruption. "Don't deny it. I'm ordering you both to go to the Burrow and take a day off. Let Molly see you, for Merlin's sake. I know it'd make her happy."

They both looked a little put off, but Kingsley stopped any possible arguments by following up on his order.

"I've already told your supervisors. They won't even let you back to work if you try, so just enjoy it. Now shoo."

As the two confused friends left, Kingsley dropped into his chair with a sigh. Who knew a small favor could be so difficult? Of course, getting anything past those two was an accomplishment, so he smirked and congratulated himself on a job well done.

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Later that evening, a crowd was gathered around the table of the Weasley family home.

Two of the inhabitants were sporting a myriad of injuries.

Rose Potter was sporting numerous bruises and a rather nasty cut on her left bicep that would definitely scar.

Ron Weasley had a black eye, a freshly healed broken leg and two missing eyebrows.

Molly Weasley just glared at them both. She had been pleasantly surprised when Rose had suddenly popped in on her for a visit late in the afternoon. Rose had hurried to the sitting room babbling about someone coming home soon. Molly just finished changing out her bed sheets when she heard what sounded like small explosions and lots of spell fire coming from downstairs.

When she got to the sitting room, Hermione had been murmuring a healing charm on Rose's arm and Ron was clearly unconscious on an overturned sofa. Luckily no one had needed to go to St Mungos.

It did mean that Molly didn't have time to make a decent dinner, so everyone was munching on sandwiches while Rose explained what had happened for the umpteenth time.

"… and then I came here to surprise Ron and Hermione, but Ron is apparently super jumpy now and started cursing before I could get a word off."

"You started cursing back not a second later! I'm an auror for Merlin's sake! I'm supposed to be jum… er.. alert."

"Why the bloody Hell couldn't you just pull your wand then?! Do they teach fire first, ask questions later in the auror academy?"

"It's like she never left," George interjected as he sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

Rose swung her head to glare at her ex-boyfriend's twin. Before she could start arguing with George, Hermione went and brought up an important point.

"Why _are _you back, though?"

Rose smiled, "Nothing important. I just figured I'd pick up my Defense Mastery."

That perked everyone's interest. Ginny made sure to clarify one point that she thought was important.

"Do you mean go pick it up, or take the tests for it?"

Rose shrugged and waved off the question.

"Same thing."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow at that bit and asked Rose, "That's a bit cocky, don't you think? The tests are supposed to be brutal. Even you are sure to struggle."

Rose was a little annoyed at that.

"I hope you don't assume that I'm just going to waltz in to the Ministry tomorrow for the bloody tests. I'm taking the written session in a week and the practical in three. I'm actually going with Ron to work tomorrow."

After Rose said this, she turned to smile innocently at Ron who was instantly on edge.

"Why?"

Rose broke out a predatory grin.

"Kingsley is letting me borrow the aurors to train."

Ron paled and his sister chimed in. "Ooh. Can I come?"

Ron sat in silence as Rose and Ginny started whispering to each other. It would soon be time to see if his training paid off.

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The Auror Academy was nothing special. To muggles, it looked like an old factory that was abandoned on the outskirts of London. The inside was just one big room that resembled a gymnasium. It was literally just a big room where aurors could duel and cast spells. All other training was done off-sight or at the main ministry building in classrooms.

Rose stood in front of two aurors. Her left foot was slightly back from her right, but other than that, she showed no outward signs of being prepared for anything. She was trying to improve her reaction time.

The two aurors, Joseph Martin and Phillip Collins, were told to be as unpredictable in their attacks as possible, but after losing in this drill 15 out of 20 times, they were starting to get slightly frustrated. This time, they had coordinated their plan beforehand. Somehow, this didn't settle their stomachs any more as they faced off against the girl three years their junior.

Martin started moving first, throwing his wand out to the side and conjuring a large pile of marbles. Collins shot a stream of crude oil from his wand at Rose.

Rose's wand was in her hand in an instant and with remarkable speed, cast a spark at the oil and a flame shield at the same time. The spark instantly caught the oil on fire and Collins cursed as he ended his stream. He quickly recovered and threw several instinctive stunners at Rose while his partner overpowered a lubrication charm at the ground around Rose's feet.

Rose batted the stunners away and moved to the offensive. Not understanding their strategy, Rose started casting obscure paralyzing spells at Martin. As Martin was reliving Dodging 101 from Auror School, Collins quickly moved the marbles Martin had conjured to around Rose's feet.

Rose caught the wand movement from Collins and looked down at the ground where it was pointing and cursed. They had created a very effective trip hazard around her. She finally recognized the oil as part of their original plan, as well. She was pretty well rooted to the spot as her self-imposed rules restricted apparition.

In Rose's moment of focus on her feet, Collins and Martin recovered and started casting as many spells as they could remember. They needed to use a variety or Rose could simply hole up behind a powerful shield and recover.

Rose barely had time to think of a way out of her predicament as she had to recognize and shield against a multitude of different spells. Collins was even breaking out his transfiguration and had sent several small animals at Rose; everything from birds to rodents.

The animals gave Rose an idea. As Rose continued to shield, she silently started to conjure her own animals off to the side.

Collins estimated another thirty seconds before Potter made a mistake and ended up on the ground. Suddenly, he heard a terrified scream from his partner and quickly diverted his attention to see Martin struggling to keep several snakes away from him. He already had two smaller constrictors around his left thigh and stomach. Collins pointed his wand at his partner to help him out when a red light suddenly entered his peripheral vision and a stunner crashed into him.

Rose smirked at her victory and started heading towards Martin to rid him of his serpentine attachments. It took a few seconds to clean up around her feet and by that time several watching aurors had started trying to help Martin with the snakes.

_~Stop. Release him~_

The aurors froze as they heard Rose hissing at the serpents. The snakes quickly released the struggling auror and slithered up to Rose, who bent down to pick up the closest one.

_~Mistress, what are your commands?~_

_~Nothing, my faithful friends. You performed splendidly~_

_~Anytime, Mistress~_

Rose smiled as she dispelled the snakes. She found it odd that each time she used serpensortia, it was always the same snakes that came out. She just gave them standing orders to attack anyone harming her when summoned.

Ron walked over from the huddled group of aurors around Martin.

"Rose, you know that freaks people out, right?"

Rose shrugged.

"Martin okay?"

"He's fine. Bout pissed himself, though."

Rose giggled at Ron, something she had been doing more and more often. Two years removed from war and she was finally starting to relax.

Ron looked down at his watch, hoping it was time for lunch. For once, he was hoping for something other than food. This time he was hoping to delay dueling Rose. Sadly, it was not to be.

"Ready, Ron?"

"Ready."

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Ron knew Rose.

Rose liked to react rather than cast the first spell, an advantage earned by hours of Quidditch practice and avoiding her pig of a cousin. She would always begin with a reactionary stunner or bludgeoner and for the next minute or so she would keep casting curses straight at an opponent or subverting their own attacks. Only if her opponent was still standing after the first few minutes would she get creative. Once that phase of the duel started, it was over for her opponent, as she was almost completely unpredictable. Her only habit was when it came to conjuring animals, Rose would exclusively use snakes.

Ron knew if he was to win, he would have to keep Rose out of that second stage of the duel. He needed to end it quickly. He had to take some risks and go almost completely offensive straight out of the gate.

Ron was smarter than most gave him credit for. He knew his strengths. He was a strategist, and he was going to anticipate Rose as best he could.

The two stood opposite each other with equally grim expressions. Neither seemed willing to make the first move, although Rose knew she would have to. Ron wanted her out of her comfort zone. Rose wanted to take Ron out of his.

Suddenly, Rose flicked her wand into her hand and Ron started reacting as Rose cast the first spell of the duel.

"_Stupefy podavlyat'!"_

Like Grigori had mentioned when he taught her the spell, a wide spray of stunners started shooting from Rose's wand at Ron's body.

Ron smirked internally as Rose's opening gave Ron a perfect opportunity to be offensive. Because of its wide spray, the stunner spray had significantly lower power behind each individual stunner than a normal stunner. As such, all Ron had to do was put more power into his spells and practically force his spells through the stunners, negating them and continuing on their path.

Ron dodged the stunners near his feet with fluidity built from hours of dodging simulated spell fire, flicked away the ones that were going to hit him but weren't at an angle that he could return fire from, and forced a series of silent hexes and curses through the few stunners that he could.

Rose was caught off guard at this response and abandoned her stunner spray in favor of dodging Ron's return fire.

The opening move lasted 7 seconds. Rose had fired twenty stunners. Ron had dodged five, deflected 3, and shot through 3 more. The rest of the spray had gone wide. Rose had dodged 2 of Ron's spells. One had landed.

In the eighth second Rose recognized and dispelled the itching hex that had hit her. Because of the simplicity of the hex, it was easier to put more power into.

By the ninth second, Ron was halfway through the spells he needed to set up his plan. He had already disillusioned himself, conjured some light fog, and had sent two conjured wolves to Rose.

After quickly cutting down Ron's wolves, Rose quickly cast an aguamenti charm on the floor to negate Ron's disillusionment advantage.

It took one precious second to notice a slight groove in the water on Rose's left flank. It was now the thirteenth second.

Rose knew she wouldn't get her wand around in time to block any incoming spells, so she cast a bubble shield around her entire body. The shield was weakest on the sides, and wouldn't hold up under concentrated fire.

By the next second, Rose had turned to her left and had cast a disarming spell at the area she assumed Ron was in. However her spell encountered empty air as a spell impacted her bubble shield at her rear causing her to stumble forward.

Casting two blind spells behind her, Rose continued her momentum caused by her stumble and started running. Her sprint lasted two seconds before she spun around and started casting curses as quickly as she could manage while simultaneously blocking the curses that were raining down on her.

The two blind spells Rose had cast were a basic incendio and a finite. The incendio blocked Ron's vision and forced him to shield while the finite ended Ron's disillusionment.

Rose and Ron had started trading curses in earnest at the seventeenth second and they were now on equal standing at a slightly larger distance than they had started at. Their duel now represented something that might have been seen during the war and lasted that way for ten seconds before Rose moved up her timeline.

Ron was about to start another plan he had when Rose suddenly pulled out one of her goblin daggers into her off hand and started sprinting at Ron, flicking away his spells as she approached.

Unsettled by the move, Ron abandoned his plan and shot a reducto at the ground halfway between him and Rose.

Ron barely bought himself enough time to get a shield up in time to block some of Rose's spells, but Rose had closed the distance between them.

Having trained with her daggers three times a week for two years with goblins around the world, Rose quickly got underneath Ron's adequate guard from his auror hand-to-hand training and brought her dagger to his neck.

Ron's eyes bugged out as he felt the steel against his neck.

"Bugger"

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After the first day of training with the aurors and her duel with Ron, Rose started focusing on some of the shields, hexes and curses that she still struggled with. Despite the seeming ease that Rose displayed, not everything just came to her. Several powerful curses took Rose several hours to perfect and Rose even showed signs of a panic attack when she couldn't recall three obscure counter curses. Ron had to get her a calming draught from the auror supply.

One particular afternoon had every auror trainee avoiding the girl as she looked furious with herself and had started cursing everyone that got near her, claiming that she needed absolute focus.

Kingsley had consequently chosen that day to visit the Auror Academy and had caught every trainee in the room giving Rose scared glances.

As he approached Rose, he noticed the frown on her face get even more pronounced as he approached and when that didn't deter him, the raven-haired girl swung her head to glare at him.

"Yes, Minister?" Rose asked in an icy voice, "What important topic do you want to discuss that could not possibly wait?"

"I just wanted to know why everyone here is glancing at you like you are a nesting dragon," Kingsley replied easily.

Rose had the decency to look slightly abashed at her mood, but it didn't pick up any.

"I'm just having some trouble with a spell."

Kingsley raised an eyebrow at that. He knew Rose's ability to downplay things was legendary.

"What spell?" Kingsley inquired softly with his deep bass voice.

Rose's response was to hand him a book that was lying by her feet and was opened to a specific chapter devoted entirely to…

"The Aegis Shield." Kingsley whispered in shock. Despite the fact that he was whispering, his voice carried through the room, which was listening intently to the conversation. At the Minister's words, everyone in the room dropped their jaws in varying degrees. Even despite the fact that everyone knew that you had to cast that spell to get a Defense Mastery, to be in the same room while someone attempted to cast such powerful magic was slightly staggering.

Everyone listened as Kingsley read the introduction to the chapter out loud.

"The Aegis Shield, believed to have been created by Merlin himself, is uncontested as the strongest variant in the Protego shield family and generally accepted as the strongest shield in existence. The Aegis Shield has never been tested to the fullest extent as the power levels are incredibly high and no one with the capabilities to cast it has ever agreed to the testing. It is theorized that the Aegis Shield could hold up for as long as the caster maintained their focus and could block every spell in existence except for the Avada Kedavra. Besides the high power level, the caster must also have unbreakable resolve that the shield shall work. Any doubt whatsoever is enough to cause the Aegis to fail to form."

Kingsley looked up from the book to notice a fidgeting Rose with a completely beet red face from embarrassment. She hadn't received this many looks of awe since the Awards Ceremony/Memorial Service after the war. She gulped before murmuring to Kingsley softly (which everyone still somehow heard).

"I can't cast it."

"I'm sorry? What was that?"

"I said I can't cast it," Rose answered just a little louder than last time.

Kingsley furrowed his brow at that as Rose wiped at her eyes with her sleeves. She felt slightly vulnerable at the moment. She'd been trying to cast this spell for two days nonstop now and was cursing herself for feeling so confident when she signed up for this.

"I don't believe that in the slightest."

Rose felt Kingsley reach down and gently picked up Rose's right hand from her side and briefly put pressure on Rose's family ring that she had been wearing since the goblins gave it to her two years prior.

"I know very well that you have the power for it. If nothing else, your ability to apparate as much as you do in a short time is proof of that. And if I recall correctly, your family motto will take care of the rest."

With his bit said, the Minister of Magic turned around and left Rose who was currently staring at her ring and the motto that was engraved at the bottom.

_Toujours praeceps_

The story behind the motto itself was proof enough of the truth throughout generations of Potters. The Potter who had made the Potter Crest was told that he couldn't have two languages for a motto. Instead of conceding the point, David Potter had apparently returned home and two weeks later a bill was passed through the Wizengamot allowing multiple languages in Family Mottos.

Forever headstrong.

Rose stared at the motto for another half minute before she finally looked up and glanced around the room. In the two days she had been attempting the spell, she had been whispering the spell, embarrassed at her failure.

She flicked her wand into her hand and began gathering her magic. According to the book, she had to gather as much magic as she possibly could into a condensed ball in her gut. This was difficult in itself because very few spells required you to gather magic. Most spells just flowed out of your body if you performed them correctly and had the magic available.

Rose placed her wand on her gut to help guide the flow of magic. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Suddenly, Rose felt overwhelmed with the amount of magic she was holding in one place and immediately pointed her wand straight at the ground directly in front of her and incanted clearly,

"Protego Aegis"

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Exactly four days later, Rose incanted the same thing in front of two Defense Masters who had spent the entirety of the day testing her ability in their field. As the brilliant golden shield flared to life around her, both Masters broke into wide smiles and Rose reflected on her day.

She had met Richard Adams and Peter Lorenz, an American and German respectively early that morning who informed her very sternly that had she not passed the written exam two weeks prior, they would not be wasting their time here. When Rose had fidgeted uncomfortably at that and started apologizing for being a bother, they had started laughing and informed her that they were messing with her.

Rose had relaxed almost immediately around the two older men. Richard was in his late 40's and had been a Defense Master for 13 years. He had brown hair and eyes that kept shifting colors between brown, brilliant blue, and silver. When he caught Rose staring at his eyes, he smirked and said they were natural, at which Master Lorenz had reached around and smacked him on the back of the head for trying to fool the poor girl.

Peter had been a Master of Defense for 10 years before he and another Master tested Richard. He had grey hair (that he said was actually a mature white) and dull blue eyes. Despite his rather dull appearance, Peter was a very upbeat older man who constantly had a skip in his step.

Rose watched their interactions throughout the day as they asked her to perform different spells or threw random ones at her and expected her to block them. As they broke for lunch, they asked her to join them. She accepted gratefully, although she did confess to being confused by the offer. The other two smiled genuinely at her.

"We can already tell that you've got most of this stuff down," Peter explained, "and to be honest, the Defense Mastery community has always been very tight. We're all friends with each other and even those who just barely miss the cut hang out with us all the time. Kindred spirits, I would say."

Richard continued the thought, "All us Dark Lord Slayers have to stick together, right?"

Rose broke out of her reminiscing as Richard and Peter fired the last of their spells at her Aegis shield. She noticed that the last ones were extremely powerful cutting curses that could cleave humans in half get absorbed completely in the shield without even leaving a scratch. She had never felt so safe behind a shield in her life.

Rose dropped her shield after Peter indicated.

"Congratulations, my dear."

Rose thought she was much more proud of this accomplishment than defeating Voldemort.

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Rose didn't go immediately to the Burrow. They were expecting her to, but she had someone else she wanted to hear the news first. She exited the Ministry building through the visitors' entrance and started literally skipping down the streets of London, humming a tune she had heard on the Wizarding Wireless. She felt quite content to just enjoy a nice peaceful stroll through the city.

As she finally slowed down and looked around for an alley to apparate from, she looked down at the little medallion she had been given in addition to her certificate. The certificate was just a piece of paper that made everything nice and official and was kept on display in the Ministry of her home country. It would go up tomorrow morning. The medallion however, was hers to keep on her and show off as she pleased. It was always charmed to take on the appearance of any piece of jewelry she wanted.

She willed the medallion into a jeweled hairclip that she stuck in her hair and checked her watch. It was dinnertime. Without another thought, Rose Potter apparated away.

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Rose popped into the middle of the Great Hall of Hogwarts with a big smile on her face and still humming away merrily. She gave a cheery, "Hello, all" to the students around her who looked completely befuddled by her sudden appearance. Spotting a delicious looking piece of treacle tart, Rose conjured a plate and summoned a piece before skipping along towards the Head Table, where all of the professors had adopted expressions that matched their pupils. When she finally reached them, Headmistress McGonagall raised one eyebrow at the girl as she stopped in front of her, munching happily at her dessert.

"Rose, I'm sure you don't apparate through the strongest wards in the Magical World for dessert and to speak with your old Transfiguration professor. What can I do you, dear?"

Rose stopped chewing on her tart and looked back at the spot she had appeared with wide eyes. She continued her befuddled look as she swallowed her food and turned back to her former teacher.

"Um… I really have no idea how I did that. Sorry, Headmistress," Rose said as she rubbed the back of her neck with the hand that wasn't holding her plate.

The older woman smiled and dropped her cold teaching persona.

"It's fine, dear. And it's Minerva now. You are a grown woman, but my question still remains. What can I do for you, Rose?"

"I was just wondering what you did with old Dumble's candy."

"I'm sorry?" Minerva was perplexed by the strange question.

"Oh, you know… He always favored the lemon drops, but he had a new type every time I went to see him. He changed it several times during the school year. I was wondering if you had such a vice."

The old Transfiguration Mistress finally understood what Rose was implying when she glanced sideways at the students who were closest to the Head Table and were trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. She smiled at her ex-pupil.

"Well, unlike Albus, I prefer a nice lovely magazine to relax myself in my off time in lieu of searching for new sweets. All academic journals and such, but they do much for this old soul. My favorite at the moment is Transfiguration Weekly. They have a lovely article this week on the history of **Emeric Switch**, an old Transfiguration professor of this school."

Rose caught the inflection the Headmistress had put on the name and smiled.

"Well, I must be off. You should come up soon so we can talk. I'm sure there is only so much Twinkles and I can discuss." Rose winked at one of her favorite people in the world and took off towards the Headmistress's office as the students were trying to make sense of things. Had Rose Potter really apparated through Hogwarts' wards to ask their Headmistress about her vices? And who was Twinkles?

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When Minerva McGonagall arrived in her office half an hour later, she was delighted to hear Rose Potter laughing alongside a voice that she made an effort to speak to every day. She was less than delighted when she noticed the aforementioned girl propping her feet on her desk.

"You've made yourself at home." McGonagall said in lieu of a standard greeting.

Rose quickly hopped out of the Headmistress chair and looked guilty for a moment before she smirked.

"Oh, hello Minerva. Albus here was just telling me some rather interesting stories about the mischief my beloved parents and friends got up to when at school. This last one was particularly interesting. Something about a Tabby getting stuck in a tree by a large black dog?"

Minerva looked at her mentor in shock. "Albus! You didn't!"

The portrait in question just smiled at her as his eyes twinkled over his glasses.

"I'm sorry, Minerva. Rose and I were just passing the time waiting for you to arrive after she told me about her mastery."

The subtle deflection worked as Minerva turned her gaze towards Rose who was practically bouncing in excitement as she quickly pointed at the medallion currently in her hair. Rose was then treated to the novel experience of having her normally no-nonsense Professor squeal in excitement (maturely, of course) and rushed to pull the younger girl in a hug.

"Oh, that's wonderful. I knew you would do well. A Defense Mastery is an amazing accomplishment. Oh, I'm so proud of you."

Rose, Minerva, and the portrait of Albus Dumbledore enjoyed a light hearted conversation the next hour before the topic finally came around to Rose's plans for the future.

"Well, I'm really unsure about long term plans, but I figured I'd go for a couple more Masteries. But I'll need an actual teacher to prepare for these ones. I think Charms and Transfiguration should be first, as that gets my basics. I'm going to ignore Potions completely." At this, Albus and his neighboring portrait, Severus Snape glanced at each other. "I was wondering if you might point me in the right direction, Minerva. I'm going to see Professor Flitwick before I leave and ask him the same."

Minerva thought for a second before she replied.

"Well, if I know Filius, he'll recommend his friend in Canada who takes on several apprentices a year and I would suggest you do that one first as your grades were better in charms than Transfiguration and for it I'd be happy to write you a recommendation to the Athenian Academy in Greece. It's not one Master taking on apprentices, but most of the Transfiguration Masters in the World take turns lecturing there and helping the apprentices. I have taught several summers there myself and am scheduled to make appearances for the next several summers."

"Oh, that sounds like it would be wonderful. I really don't know what to do for the rest of my life, but I've barely touched the fortune Albus here left for me, so I've got plenty of time to figure it out." Rose looked at her watch and said her goodbyes as she really needed to get going before the Weasleys wondered where she was. As she was leaving to talk to the Charms Professor, the Headmistress held her back a second.

"Dear, do you happen to be in contact with Mister Malfoy?"

"Yeah, he's living at Grimmauld Place. Is something wrong?"

"Maybe. Can you tell him that I need to speak with him? It may be nothing, but there's some things in the Hogwarts records that he needs to know about, but the owls I've sent him keep coming back."

Rose pondered that information for a moment. As far as she knew, there were no owl misdirection wards around Grimmauld Place. She would have to ask Draco later.

"I'll pass along the message. Thanks, Minerva."

"Come see me before you leave the country again, Rose."

Rose nodded and turned back to walk out the door.

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Two weeks later, Rose was indeed leaving the country again, but instead of having a large send-off party, she was waiting at the airport with her cousin, Draco, who she had insisted see her off. The extended clan of friends and family had already said their goodbyes and Rose knew Draco need to get out more often. A simple confundus on the guards got Draco through security so he could wait with Rose at the gate.

Currently, Draco was scolding Rose, "…and I'm telling you, you are spoiling the boy. At least Andromeda has the sense to attempt to teach him proper etiquette."

Rose sighed. For some reason Draco was extremely interest in Teddy's upbringing.

"Draco, Teddy's young. He should have as much fun as he wants. I'm all for teaching him manners, but so what if I try to make sure he has a little fun?"

"A little?" Draco scoffed. "Remind me again, how much whipped cream was covering the two of you when Andromeda came home last week?"

Rose tried her best not to appear sheepish. "Andy told you about that, did she?"

"Bloody woman has started coming to me to complain about things. I can stand when she complains about you spoiling her grandson and attempting to make 'A Proper Marauder' out of him. But I honestly could care less about the politics in the Wizengamot. I'm not my father."

It was a note of how comfortable he was around Rose that he could even mention his father. It didn't change the fact that the conversation went into an awkward silence. Rose fished for a new topic and grasped the first thing she thought of.

"Hey, did you speak to Minerva yet?" Draco's scowl darkened even further and Rose became worried. She hadn't thought this would be a touchy subject. "Draco?"

Draco turned in his uncomfortable airport chair and focused on his cousin. His eyes were troubled and Rose didn't like it.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Draco's expression lightened a little, but still remained dark.

"Maybe. But right now, there may be nothing to worry about. I'll let you know, alright?"

Rose certainly hoped he would confide in her, but the man was stubborn and she decided to take what she could.

"I'm here for you. Anything you need, and I'm a mirror call away. I can be back in England within the hour, okay?"

Draco nodded and drew back to his thoughts. Rose grasped Draco's arm and settled into a comfortable silence as the two waited for Rose's flight.

**A/N: No Avengers make an appearance. Sorry. The story will be a long one, and there are too many chapters planned for one to make an appearance in every one. None in the next chapter either, but there will most likely be someone from the Marvel Universe in at least an Omake.**

**I will not apologize for the inclusion of Draco in this story. If you have not, read Lady Hallen's "An Avalanche". It is my inspiration for this Draco and I hope I can convey a nice, if slightly snarky Draco like the legendary Lady Hallen. Seriously, I love her stuff. **

**I know it took a while for this to come out. December I have an excuse for as my job became unbearable with 60 hour work weeks. I spent my spare time sleeping. These past two months, I have no excuse. My brother kept ribbing me about it too. Oh, well. It is here. I am planning to have the next one out much sooner. I am also planning on writing a side story. Just writing the summary and basic points had me snapping out of my writers block. This chapter was finished about 2 days after I wrote that. So it will become a side project for that purpose only. I probably won't post it. It's quite a silly premise. **

**No beta, so I'll discover the errors in the next week or so and smack myself for not noticing them. Forgive me. **

**Parting thought… What would you do if your favorite character from any story (canon/fic) appeared IRL and started crashing at your place and hanging out with you? **


	4. A Real Charmer

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews.**

**I own none of this. **

**My last chapter returned to England. Now, it's time to go back out into the world. Please keep in mind that there are far too many chapters planned for there to be an Avenger in every single one. This is not an Avengers X-Over because they are going to feature all the time, but because everything is leading up to the events of the Avengers movie. **

**If you have an Omake idea, please shoot me a PM. If you ask me a question in the reviews, I will make an effort to answer it in as spoiler-less a manner as possible, but I can't do that if you aren't logged in. I'm not devoting my A/Ns to answering questions. They are long enough as is. **

_Another language_

English

_~Parsel~_

**Chapter 3: A Real Charmer**

**January 2001**

_I'm going to lose my tan_.

These were the first thoughts that Rose had as she looked out the window of the airport. In all honesty, Rose was lucky she could even look out this window, as the weather in Vancouver, Canada was typically horrible this time of year. It was only by a stroke of luck that Rose had picked a day to travel that didn't see the city buried under snow. There was certainly snow on the ground, but it was manageable for the Vancouver infrastructure to function properly.

Rose walked out of the airport, hailed a cab, and pulled out a mirror from her purse. It was technically her communication mirror, but functioned as a proper mirror all other times. As Rose looked at her tanned skin, she still thought it looked weird. She had spent 18 years pale, whether from spending far too much time in a tiny cupboard under the stairs or in a castle in Scotland, and she personally thought she looked better pale.

Rose enjoyed the brief moment of vanity. She didn't often indulge in such things, but there wasn't much to do in the back of a taxi.

Rose tilted her mirror so she could see her hair and could hardly believe what she was seeing. Her bloody Defense medallion had changed on its own! She had left it in her hair as a hairclip and had changed the style of it every so often, but it had never changed on its own, so to see the snowflake shaped hairclip caught her off guard. She would need to have a chat with her new Defense colleagues about warning her when giving her partially aware pieces of jewelry.

She shook her dark thoughts away. Not every piece of enchanted jewelry had bits of a Dark Lord's soul in it and not every witch or wizard had run across such jewelry. Her paranoia still caught her off guard sometimes. Most of her life had been so turbulent, so settling into an almost normal, peaceful life was still a struggle for the young witch.

She knew her life was still abnormal. She was still globetrotting and had no real direction in her life. If anyone asked her right now what she did with her life, what could she answer with? She was just living off her fortune, and that didn't appeal to the witch, but she didn't know what to do. So here she was in the cold city of Vancouver ready to work on her second Mastery. If the feeling of accomplishment from getting her Defense Mastery was any indication, she would not regret this.

Her taxi ride lasted almost a complete hour before she was dropped off at her destination. She paid the driver and walked into the Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. Professor Flitwick had said she would be met here by one of apprentices and they would escort her to his friend, who would be happy to take her under his wing as an apprentice. Rose was slightly worried that there would be hero worship involved and was hoping she was wrong.

Rose also didn't know exactly where in the 360,000 square foot mall she was supposed to meet the apprentice, so she walked around the mall for a while. After about half-an-hour, she was really hoping her fame would pay off soon and she would be recognized. She rounded another corner of the large mall and stopped dead in her tracks, slightly confused by what she was seeing.

In the middle of the crowded muggle mall was a large amount of floating alcohol above the head of a man who had what appeared to be even more booze in a brown bag in his hand and a sign in his other hand. The man had long brown hair and a full beard to match. What baffled Rose was how well the muggles seemed to be handling it. It was almost like they couldn't see it at all.

As soon as that thought went through her head, she smacked her hand lightly on her forehead. Obviously there was a misdirection charm on it. But she'd never heard of one that was that specific.

She approached the man and noticed that the cardboard sign had her name on it.

"Excuse me."

The man turned towards her with slightly glazed hazel eyes.

Rose indicted the floating booze with a pointed finger.

"How'd you get that misdirection charm muggle specific?"

After a brief glance at what Rose was pointing at, the man replied.

"It's the same charm they use on the wizarding buses and such. I can show you when we get to the cottage. You _are_ er…." He turned his sign so he could read it, "Rose Potter, right?" Rose nodded.

"Geoff Alders, at your service," The newly revealed Geoff said as he gave Rose a brief bow fairly standard among wizards and continued his introduction, "longest apprentice to Master Clarence Keyte; mostly because you can't have booze while you're taking your exams. And before you ask, yes, I am always either drunk or on my way."

"Err…. Okay…."

Rose wasn't quite sure how to interact with Geoff. The man did not seem to be very caring about her opinion of his drinking habits, nor did he seem to recognize or care about Rose's fame, which suited her just fine. She just had one major concern.

"Erm... How are we getting to this cottage? I thought it wasn't safe to apparate while er... intoxicated."

Geoff chuckled at her and held his hand out to the side implying the direction they needed to start walking. They set off towards the nearest exit as Geoff answered her, "Well, I wouldn't side apparate anyone. But I've been apparating drunk since I could apparate, so I never have a problem. Nah. We have a portkey. I have it in my pocket. Just gotta find somewhere away from the muggles."

As Geoff finished talking he was pulled back by a hand on his shoulder and spun around to face three young men, obviously muggles. The leader, after removing his hand from Geoff's shoulder, started talking, not at Geoff, but Rose.

"He's not threatening you, is he sweetheart?"

Rose was confused. It was barely three in the afternoon, in a crowded mall. Sure, Geoff being drunk at this time was weird, but it was hardly the place or time for a drunken man to take advantage of a girl. She just arched an eyebrow at them.

"No. He's just a friend of a friend. He just met me here."

The three men didn't look convinced.

"Well, your friend here had a bad reputation in these parts of preying on young women. You shouldn't trust him."

Rose turned to look at Geoff who shrugged. "They have a weird interpretation of 'preying.' They were all willing young ladies." He lowered his voice to where only Rose could hear. "And there's a lovely little charm that tells if a girl is past the point of making a logical decision or not." He raised his voice again before continuing, "You can ask Keyte when we get to the cottage. He heard the rumors too and practically strapped me down and forced the truth out of me. He doesn't tolerate that stuff and neither do I."

Rose held Geoff's suddenly serious demeanor for a moment before nodding at him, satisfied. She didn't know him at all, but she was still good at judging character. Geoff was confusing, but ultimately seemed to be okay. She would find out more later. She turned back to the muggles.

"Thanks for your concern gentlemen, but I'm a big girl. Even if he was rotten, he'd be on his ass before he ever touched mine."

Rose turned around to continue but suddenly her instincts screamed trouble.

Spinning around, she had just enough time to see Geoff take a punch to the back of his skull, since he had turned around to continue as well. Most muggles would have completely blacked out from a hit like that, but wizards were made of stronger stuff, so he just fell over, jumped back up to his feet and charged at the muggle who had hit him. The three men started trading blows with Geoff.

Rose, tired from her flight, cab ride and walking around the mall, found the nearest outlet for her frustration. Recalling how much punching someone hurt, she pulled one of her daggers out of her sleeve and slammed the hilt into the first muggle's nose, put a superficial cut into the second's arm, and rounded everything out nicely by placing the blade on the neck of the third while shoving Geoff off him with her other hand. It was easy. She was trained, they were not.

She looked into the eyes of the first muggle.

"Are we done here?"

"Jesus, we were just trying to help! You broke my fucking nose!"

Rose's ire grew.

"If you hadn't attacked my friend, I wouldn't have touched you, you bloody bastard!"

"What's going on here?"

Rose diverted her attention to the crowd that had gathered around them. Two police officers had arrived and Rose cursed.

"Bloody Hell."

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It took two hours to clear things up with the police. Rose spent several long minutes in handcuffs for having a dagger to someone's throat before Geoff and the muggles had cleared that up with the police. The muggles admitted to starting the fight and Geoff supposedly didn't care. He got in enough bar fights, apparently. Geoff and the muggles walked away with a fine for fighting and disturbing the peace, although the muggle who started it got a heftier fine. Rose, however…

"They're charging me with improper use of force?! What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean? Is that even a thing? I barely even hurt them. They started it!"

Rose huffed as she and Geoff walked from where the portkey had deposited them. In front of them was a large wooden cottage that looked roomy enough for 10 or so people to coexist peacefully. Geoff had said it was somewhere Northeast British Columbia, but he didn't know or care about the specifics (and neither was Rose).

Geoff chuckled at Rose as he started directing his purchased booze towards the house.

"Now, was it for breaking that one guy's nose, slicing the other one up, or scaring the piss out of the last guy? My money's on the last one. Did they give you a court date?"

"Yeah. February First. I don't even know what the penalty for 'improper use of force' anyway."

"Well, it could get up to a hefty fine and/or a couple weeks in prison."

Rose stopped in her tracks and dropped her jaw.

"PRISON!"

Geoff waved her off.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Even if they do send you in, you'll be fine. It's not like a wizarding prison."

"But I didn't do anything!"

"Then tell the judge that. And pray that you get a friendly one."

Rose glared at Geoff as they reached the front door and Geoff made to open it.

"See if I ever help you out of a fight again."

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle myself."

Rose stepped into the cottage and felt a little better almost immediately. The first room was the sitting room and it looked extremely cozy. Rose looked around the room for a bit before noticing the sole occupant, who was looking at Rose with a hungry gleam in their hazel eyes that Rose recognized.

The dainty brunette girl rushed over to Rose and Geoff and held out her hand to Rose, before seemingly catching herself and pulling it back sharply. She then curtseyed to Rose.

"Hello, Miss Potter. I mean Mistress Potter. I heard about your Defense Mastery. It is an honor to finally meet you. My name is Jaiden Alders, Apprentice of Charms under Master Keyte. I hope my older brother has been a perfect gentleman. Can I help you with anything?"

Rose internally groaned. Another bloody fan girl. Outwardly, she just smiled at the girl.

"Please, it's just Rose. I'm not used to the whole Mistress thing yet. I don't know about the whole gentleman thing, but Geoff got me here in one piece."

The girl's eyes suddenly hardened and she turned to glare at her older brother.

"What did you DO!?"

Geoff had somehow pulled another beer out of nowhere, as the stuff he had brought home had already floated into another room (presumably the kitchen) and was in the middle of a big swig when his sister had rounded on him. He choked a little and glared back at his little sister.

"What makes you think I did anything?"

"Getting here in 'one piece' sounds a lot like, 'Geoff got me into a sticky situation like he always does.' Again. What. Did. You. Do?" She punctuated the last few words with an angry finger on his chest.

"Nothing bad. It was just a little fight."

Jaiden pulled a wand out of her pocket and fired a charm at Geoff while he took another swig. From the effects, Rose assumed it was a sobering charm, as Geoff's eyes cleared and he started yelling at his sister.

"What the hell? I work hard on keeping my afternoon buzz."

Jaiden just ignored him and turned towards Rose.

"I'm sorry about him. He's always getting other people in trouble. Are you alright?"

Rose held up her hands to assure they girl. "I'm fine. No scratches on me. Just a court date." Rose knew as soon as the words left her mouth that they were a mistake for her sanity as Jaiden just rounded on Geoff again and started yelling at him again.

Rose started rubbing her temple and was startled by a tapping on her shoulder. She jerked her head up and started to flick her wand into her hand before she caught herself. It had been a long day.

Rose looked at the man who was now in front of her. He was an older gentleman, with a receding hairline and soft brown eyes. He practically radiated comfort.

"I see you've met the Alders siblings, Mistress Potter."

"Ah, yes." Rose replied. "Master Keyte, I presume?"

"You would be correct, but please, you and I are equals, even if I am to be your Charms Master. Call me Clarence. I make the apprentices call me Master Clarence or Master Keyte, but you've paid your dues," Keyte replied whilst smiling and tapping the ring on his left handed middle finger that was his Charm Mastery medallion.

Rose remembered Peter telling her that the proper greeting between Masters was merely touching their medallions and quickly tapped her finger on her snowflake shaped hairclip.

"I'm not sure that would be proper. I'm…"

Quickly Keyte pulled a parchment from behind his back and read from it, "'kind, polite and with a stubborn streak that you will never find a rival for. Rose will insist to call you Master, even though I know you well enough that you won't want her to. Good luck with that my friend.' Filius continues on about some other topic for a while, signs his name and adds a postscript which reads, 'You will enjoy working with Rose. She was always a delight in class.' So, how does that sound, Mistress Potter?"

Rose had grown red while Keyte had read her old Charms teacher's words for her and latched on to the one thing she could. "Please, just call me Rose."

"Then I insist on Clarence. Come, let me show you to your room and I'll explain how the cottage runs."

Rose had to quickly gather herself and follow after Clarence as he had a spring in his step she wasn't expecting. She fell into step with him and he started leading her up the stairs.

"Well, Rose. There are currently 7 apprentices in residence here, 8 including you. I do charge a small rent to help with costs and whatnot and we all do our own chores, even myself. I need to ask, I understand you grew up with muggles, correct?"

Rose nodded.

"Well, my only real rule is that whilst you are here, you shall not do anything by muggle means that could be done with a charm. I have nothing against muggle means; this is just an aspect of the apprenticeship. So, no washing dishes by hand, no carrying things across the room, and so on. Understood?"

Rose nodded again.

"Excellent. I do believe Beverly has dinner duty tonight and she will probably make tacos again. They're her favorite and she always makes it when it's her turn. She'll send a message when it's time for that though. Why don't you get some rest, you look exhausted, Rose."

Rose smiled gratefully at the man.

"Thanks. And thank you for taking me on as an apprentice, Mast… um… Clarence."

Clarence continued his ever present smile.

"I'm sure you'll do fine here, dear. We'll talk Charms after dinner. See you then."

Clarence went down the stairs towards the still arguing siblings and left Rose at the door to her new room. It was already labeled for her with a plaque.

_Rose Potter_

_Mistress of Defense_

_Apprentice of Charms_

Rose opened the door to a cozy room. It wasn't very large and the furniture was limited to a small desk, a dresser and a bed. Rose walked over to the bed and saw a note.

_Decorate as you want. Remember to only use your wand to do so. The room is designed to encourage you to spend time in the main living areas with everyone else. It's lovely to have you on board._

_-Clarence_

Rose folded the note and set it on the dresser. She then kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed. She would decorate later. She had some jet lag to sleep off.

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Later that week, she sat in the sitting room with the rest of the apprentices. She was starting to see the routine of the cottage. Clarence (Master Clarence to the other apprentices) would flit around the room talking to people about their work when he was in the room or he would be in his office working with the door open. Occasionally, an apprentice would walk into his office to ask him a question and he never turned them away.

Very rarely, he would ask for everyone's attention and would give a short lecture on a topic, but most of the work was on an individual basis.

The apprentices themselves didn't constantly work. At any given time, some of the apprentices would be chatting about something, and Clarence never commented on it. Rose had been dragged into several conversations and even gave an accounting of her Defense Mastery exams, which differed from the Charms ones. The other apprentices were jealous that she didn't have to write a paper for it, but were not envious of the amount of obscure curses and counter curses she had to learn.

The only exception to these habits was Geoff, who had finished all of his work for Clarence and just sat off in a recliner nursing a beer and busying himself in some manner, whether a magazine, chatting with another apprentice, or taking a nap. He was occasionally called into the office by Clarence to run an errand or to complete some other task and seemed happy to do so.

Rose couldn't help but notice that despite the large quantity of alcohol the man seemed to partake, he was not a slob, except for his unkempt beard. He always cleaned up after himself and never seemed to get above a certain level of intoxication, even when he increased his volume. Rose was very envious of him for that. She was also envious of how he was another person in her life who seemed to know what they wanted in life.

Currently, she was sitting in a comfortable chair talking through her enchanted mirror (which the apprentices were impressed with) to her best friend, Hermione and was a little frustrated. The other apprentices were ignoring her conversation politely, but had insisted she take the call in the room, as it was just like talking to someone else in the room.

"Are you positive there's nothing I can do, 'Mione?"

Hermione Granger shook her head. "Sorry, Rose. I looked up the city laws for Vancouver and even spoke to some people in our law office. You were technically in the wrong by pulling the knife, even if they started it. The best thing you can do is plead guilty and hope for a reduced sentence."

Rose buried her head in her hands. This sucked. She had been on trial before, but she had been innocent in her fifth year. She had never _actually_ broken the law. Well, and got caught. Technically polyjuice was illegal, but…

Rose picked her head back up and looked hopefully at her friend in the mirror propped up by a charm.

"What about from the wizarding end? Is there anything that protects witches and wizards from muggle prosecution?"

Hermione fixed a scowl on her face, but managed to refrain from yelling her response.

"I'm ashamed that you would ask me that, Rose. Do you want your status as a witch to exempt you from the law?"

Rose went red with humiliation as she realized that was_ exactly_ what she implied and started stammering her apology, "No. No. No. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just… just..." Rose recognized the other people in the room and kept herself together, but her eyes did get a little glossy with tears, which Hermione saw and her anger deflated.

"Scared?"

Rose nodded. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Geoff standing there. He just silently handed her a beer. He looked a little guilty at Rose's predicament.

"Thanks," she murmured and opened the bottle.

"What is that? Rose, what are you about to drink?" Hermione inquired worriedly. "That better not be alcohol."

Rose just smirked at Hermione and stuck her tongue out. "Now what makes you think I would ever touch the stuff?" She took a large swig.

"Oh, dear." Hermione suddenly looked extremely worried. "Rose dear, can you put one of your new friends on the mirror?"

"Sure, 'Mione. You can talk to the fan girl." She directed her wand at the mirror at it floated over to Jaiden, who was red with embarrassment at being called a fan girl. Rose had never called her that before.

"Hel.. Hello?"

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger. I went to school with Rose and I'm her best friend. You need to get Rose away from that alcohol as quick as possible."

"What? Why?"

"She…. Well, let's just say lightweight doesn't even begin to explain Rose. We think her magic or her body reacts completely opposite the way it should. You might say it's something of a drawback from having so much raw magical energy. Just get it away from her."

"Uh-oh."

"What?"

"She just finished it."

Hermione deflated and just looked pityingly at Jaiden. "Well, all I can say is good luck."

Hermione cut off the mirror as Rose opened her second bottle of beer. Her eyes were completely glossed over and she looked over at Geoff who had handed her the beer but was looking at her worriedly.

"Tanks, Geoffy."

Jaiden and Geoff locked eyes and Geoff slowly reached for the bottle.

"Maybe that's not a good idea."

Geoff suddenly became aware of a wand pointed directly at his crotch and paled.

"Nuh-uh. Mine."

Geoff pulled his hand back quickly.

Clarence entered the room at that moment and all his apprentices, save an inebriated Rose looked at him pleadingly, making him stop in his tracks.

"What?"

Beverly, the taco addict, answered, "Well, Rose….."

Clarence looked at his colleague/apprentice. "Who got her drunk?" He looked at Geoff who was certainly looking guilty. "How much has she had?"

"That's her second," another apprentice, Kevin, replied.

"But she looks sloshed!"

"Hey," Rose called out, "it'sh not my fault I'm a lightweight. It's good shtuff. *hic*"

Everyone in the room looked unbelievingly at the girl. There was no way she was _that_ drunk already. Clarence just started walking towards Rose as he pulled out his wand, watching Rose's wand carefully, which was in her off hand, hanging over the chair.

"Rose, I'm going to give you a sobering charm, all right? It'll make sure…"

"Nooooo…. I don't wanna sober up." Rose pleaded.

"Come now, Rose. Surely you understand the importance of keeping a level mind." Clarence tried to reason with Rose as he continued to advance on her.

"Level minds suck. I just wanna drown my.."

Suddenly, Clarence flipped his wand at Rose and a light came speeding at Rose, who just lazily flicked it away.

"Hehe. Too slow." Rose's voice had taken on a sing-song tone. She looked at Geoff. "You would look good with pink." Suddenly, her wand flicked at Geoff and his thick brown beard became hot pink.

Her smile faded from her face as she became instantly sober. She looked behind her to see Jaiden behind her, with her wand out and looking at her apologetically.

"Sorry, Rose."

Rose just looked annoyed for the rest of the evening. Geoff resolved to have his sister introduce Rose to the different sodas they kept stocked at the cottage.

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The next night, Rose fell in love with Dr. Pepper. Jaiden thought she was on top of the world when she was suddenly pulled into a hug by her idol. When Rose finally let her out of the hug, Jaiden babbled like an excited child for five minutes which Rose was initially annoyed by, but quickly latched on to some of the things Jaiden was babbling.

Rose walked into Master Keyte's office after dinner that night. Jaiden had cooked that night and was directing the cleanup of the cooking dishes with her wand, humming happily.

"Master, can I borrow some of your time?"

Rose got no response from the man.

"Master?"

Nothing.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Clarence?"

Clarence's head snapped up and he smiled.

"Rose, please come in. Sit down, sit down. Cookie?"

Rose's looked at the offered treat and sighed as she accepted one. "I'd love a _biscuit_, thank you."

Clarence just chuckled. "You're going to have to adapt to some of the cultural differences soon. I thought you were travelling the world the past two years, no? Surely you came across some differences in terminology."

Rose crinkled her nose as she thought about it. "Not that I can recall, but I was using a translator charm the entire time. Everything came out in the Queen's English."

Clarence thought about that for a minute and nodded. "That sounds about right. I don't think anyone thinks about that aspect of translation charms. They are subjective to the user. But just because my English is slightly different doesn't mean it's wrong."

Rose held up her hands. "I'll concede the point. But I doubt be calling this a cookie anytime soon."

Clarence's eyes just twinkled. "You aren't the first brit I've taught. The others left with a hybrid of terminology. It infuriated their friends back home, I'm told. But enough of this age-old debate. What can I help you with? Charms?"

Rose shook her head. "No, so far everything is easy. I doubt that'll really change for a while. Jaiden told me the first assignments were easy, and I did have Flitwick as a Charms teacher. I thought I'd ask for some advice."

Clarence looked at her curiously. "Coming to the old man for advice? I'm honored. I'll do my best."

Rose took a breath. "Well, I've always hated my fame, I'm sure you've noticed."

Clarence nodded.

"Well, when I got here, Jaiden got on my last nerve with her praise, but tonight I noticed something that I'm not sure how to respond to."

"What was that, dear?"

"Well, she wasn't praising me because of the whole Girl-Who-Lived deal. It was all about how I was an honest to Merlin Defense Mistress. There was a little about defeating Voldemort, but she kept talking about the Mistress bit. And…."

Rose looked confused by her own thoughts.

Clarence beckoned her forward. "Yes?"

"Well, it's weird. I felt like I couldn't find anything embarrassing about that. I mean, the whole Girl-Who-Lived thing was a fluke. It was really praise that my mum should have gotten for giving me the protection. But becoming a Mistress is something that I've done on my own. It's my own accomplishment. I _earned _it. I may have a natural tendency towards Defense, but I put the work into it. I cast the Protego Aegis in front of two Defense Masters with years of experience and they gave me this medallion." She tapped her hairclip. "I kind of felt proud of the stuff Jaiden was babbling about and… I don't know. I'm conflicted." She looked hopefully at Clarence, hoping he could solve her problem.

Clarence sighed and thought for a moment. It was never good to rush these responses when the youngsters came looking for advice. He didn't know why Rose coming to him or advice caught him off guard. She may be a Mistress, but she was still a young woman trying to figure out the world.

"Rose, do you recall your first day here. Actually, do you recall walking into my office a few minutes ago?" He waited for Rose's nod. "Since you walked through those doors, you have insisted on calling me Master, as stubbornly as I have insisted against it. That is because you know how hard it is to achieve this position.

Clarence pulled his ring off and let it reform into his medallion. He stared at it as he continued,

"I polish this medallion every night. Do you?" Again, he received a nod.

"I have been on this Earth for 74 years." Rose looked shocked and he chuckled. "Yes, 74. We magi live longer, remember? Anyway, in all those years, I could tell you the details about very few of those days. I remember the day I got my first wand; there was a gentleman in the shop with a cold looking at holsters. I remember the splinter I got on my thumb on the day I first kissed a girl. But I could tell you every little detail about the day I got this medallion. I had eggs benedict for breakfast at 7:43. I lost said breakfast at 8:05. My practical examiners were Madison Edelhart and Donald Hemp. Edelhart had a mole on her upper lip and Hemp kept fiddling with his sleeve the entire day. That was exactly 49 years ago, this upcoming May. It was without a doubt, the proudest day in my life."

He took a sip of his soda and summoned a Dr. Pepper from the kitchen for Rose. He smiled as her eyes lit up.

"I don't know if the day you got your Defense medallion will be the proudest day in your life, or if it will be your Charms one, which I am sure you'll get, with a bit of work, or if it'll be the day that godson of yours graduates from Hogwarts or gets married. What I do know, is that I have been proud of my accomplishment. I've never thrown it in anyone's face and I've never tried to make myself out to be more than I am because of it, but I've been proud of it. When people congratulate me on it, I bow my head and thank them, and inside, I could not be happier. Did you have a party when you celebrated getting your Defense Mastery?"

Rose nodded and smiled at the memory.

"That's because it's something to celebrate. Even your defeat of Voldemort, while not a pleasant memory for your country, is something you should not be ashamed of. You earned it, Rose. Does that help any?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Clarence. It's just so different. Getting praise for being a Mistress is much nicer, though. I think I can accept that. I've just never had to deal with it before." She stood up to leave, but stopped halfway to the door and turned back towards him.

Rose reached up and removed the hairclip from her hair and changed it back to her Defense Medallion. She held it in her hand as she bowed to Clarence. "Thank you, Master Keyte."

Clarence stood up with his medallion and bowed to Rose. "You are very welcome, Mistress Potter."

Rose put the hairclip back in her hair and ran out of the room and headed for the kitchen. She flew through the doors as Jaiden had just finished cleaning the floor with her wand. Jaiden Alders once again found herself in a crushing hug from her idol and new friend, Mistress Rose Potter.

Clarence Keyte sat back down in his chair and looked at his medallion. A small smirk was fixed on his face. He had pulled a little white lie with Rose, but how were you supposed to tell your colleague and pupil that the proudest moment in his life was always when he watched his apprentices receive their own medallions. He pulled a small polishing kit out of a drawer in his desk started his nightly ritual.

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**February 1****st****, 2001**

Rose stood in front of a judge of the courts of British Columbia, and she could tell this would not end well for her, as the judge was glaring at her. He was apparently either not having a good day or was just an ass. Hermione had made the portkey trip over to be with her, and she was extremely grateful for that. Jaiden had come too and Hermione had rolled her eyes at the small dose of hero worship she had gotten from the girl. Geoff had heard Hermione was coming and had quickly found something to do for Clarence as the bushy-haired best friend had claimed castration was in store for whoever had gave Rose a beer. Rose didn't blame him.

"The court has heard the guilty plea from one Rose Lily Potter of England on the count of improper use of force. Miss Potter has already been fined for the same incident on separate charges."

The judge stopped his official –sounding speaking for a moment and leveled Rose with his glare, which intensified.

"I bet you just thought you could come to our country and assault our citizens, didn't you?"

_Bloody Hell, he's going to discriminate against me because I'm British. What the Hell?_

"The court shall assign the following sentences for the charges leveled against Rose Potter: a fine of $2500 dollars and a period of incarceration at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women for 2 weeks."

The judge banged his gavel.

"Take her away. Bring in the next case"

Rose was handcuffed and led out to the hallway where her two friends were waiting for her. She was given a moment with them, although the officer kept his hand on the cuffs behind her back.

"Well?" Hermione inquired, although she knew it wasn't good seeing as she was in handcuffs.

"Two weeks. The judge was…" She glanced at the officer behind her. "slightly discriminatory because of my place of birth."

Hermione looked outraged and Jaiden was horrified.

"Excuse, me. Miss Potter?"

Rose looked over to the officer that had approached the three friends and her own officer.

"Yes?"

The officer handed a form to the officer holding Rose.

"This prisoner is to be handled by me. Good day." He then pulled out a wand and flicked it at officer holding her.

"Everything seems in order. Take care."

"Well, come with me, Miss Potter. And please put away your wand, Miss Granger. This is standard procedure for witches and wizards going through the muggle system. I'm Canadian DMLE hitwizard Ethen Cartwright and can show you my credentials once we get behind closed doors. You two can come as well. I'm assuming by your very presence here that you are going to honor the system, which I appreciate very much."

Rose was led by Officer Cartwright to a small room that was used for holding prisoners and released from her handcuffs.

"Alright, I'm going to ask you to remove any magical items from your person and give them to your friends. Please do so."

Rose handed her wand and holster to Jaiden, as it was the only thing besides her clothing that she had brought with her, in case of this possibility. She then looked at Cartwright, who looked distinctly uncomfortable and was staring at her hair.

"The Mastery medallion needs to go too."

Rose's eyes widened at that. She had completely forgotten about it. She had kept it on her the entirety of the short time she had it. She plucked it from her hair and let it reform to the medallion and handed it to Jaiden as well, eyes tearing up slightly. She was a bit irritated that the medallion meant so much to her, but she could hardly help herself.

"Alright, now I'll be escorting you to Fraser and checking you in personally. You'll be in the minimum security section, so just keep your head down and you'll be fine. But I can provide you with a muggle repelling charm if you would like, alright?"

Rose shook her head. "Thanks, but I'll be fine."

"Alright, say good bye to your friends. I'll need to put your cuffs back on before I escort you out."

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**February 15, 2001**

Geoff Alders watched as Rose Potter walked out of the gate of the Fraser Valley Institute and up to him. She didn't say a word; she just reached out and hugged him. He put his arms around the girl and held on to her. He had done his own stint once. He didn't bother asking how it was. If he had to guess, Rose had been physically fine, but had been forced to listen to the other inmates jeers. It would grate at anyone, but Rose was lucky to have a short sentence so she wouldn't really have time to make any enemies.

Rose was just enjoying the physical comfort when she felt one of Geoff's hands move from her back. A second later she felt him put something in her hair and breathed out a sigh of relief. She pulled back from the hug and smiled at him.

"Do you want to go get a drink?"

"Do they sell Dr. Pepper where we're going?" Geoff nodded. "Then yes. Lead the way."

Omake 4:

**Go to a Supermarket, Sweetheart**

Rose and Geoff walked into the bar. It was a seedy little place, and Geoff said the backup bartender could be a right dick, but it was one of his watering holes and it was the closest one. Geoff begged off to the restroom for a pre-drink bladder drain and asked Rose to get them seats at the bar.

Rose walked up to the bar and sat a seat away from the only other resident of the bar. She only gave him a sideways glance when she sat down. She fought a smile as she compared him to the "bad boys" the girls at Hogwarts would talk about. He had it all; the muscles, the goatee, the cigar, the whiskey, the wife beater, the dark hair that was slightly upturned at the edges. She was certain Lavender would be swooning right now.

The bartender walked over to Rose.

"What'll ya have, sweetheart?"

"Just a Dr. Pepper for me."

"Yeah? Try a supermarket, sweetheart. This is a bar. Want to try again?"

Well, apparently it was asshole backup bartender today.

"I'm just here with my friend. He's the drinker. Dr. Pepper for me."

"Listen, girl…"

"Just give her the drink, bub." The rough voice of the stranger interjected.

The bartender looked at the stranger for a second before throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Whatever."

The bartender turned around to fix the drink and Rose turned to the stranger.

"Thank you."

He just nodded and went back to his drink.

The bartender came set her drink in front of her and leaned up on the other side, wiping down a glass.

Rose eyed the fizzy drink. She had gone too long without one of these. She went to take a gulp when she suddenly had a firm hand around her wrist, preventing her from bringing the glass to her mouth.

She looked over at the stranger, who had reached over and grabbed her, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the bartender.

"What did you put in it, bub?"

"Just Dr. Pepper."

"Really?" He snatched the glass from her hand and took a gulp. Rose just let him. She was fresh out of prison and wasn't making any rash decisions any time soon. "That's some pretty hard Dr. Pepper, there."

The stranger then held the glass out behind the bar and dropped it, letting it shatter on the floor. The bartender made a sudden move towards the stranger and both he and Rose stood up. Geoff chose that moment to make an appearance.

He just looked at the standing group and saw Rose glaring at the bartender and sighed very louder, drawing attention to himself.

"Rose, I just got you out of prison. I'm pretty sure getting in a bar fight in the afternoon would probably land you back there."

The bartender scoffed. "Oh, yeah. What were you in for? Did you lift a handbag, sweetheart?"

Rose glared at him and opened her mouth to retort, but Geoff beat her to it. "Actually, she beat the shit out of two guys with a knife and then held it to the throat of the third. Hey, I need to give you those daggers back anyway."

He reached behind his back and pulled out her daggers and held them out to her. Rose just swiftly pulled one out of its holster and twirled it around her hand before slamming it forcefully into the bar.

"I think we need to find a new bar, Geoff." She pulled the dagger out of the wooden bar, grabbed her other dagger from Geoff and walked out the door. Geoff just looked at the bartender for a second before following her.

The stranger, also known as Logan, watched the girl walk out the door and stared at the door for a moment more. He turned back to the bartender.

"I like that girl."

He extended his adamantium claws and sliced into the bar before walking out the door.

**A/N: Woah. A quick update.**

**No. We aren't done with Canada. I just knew that to finish Canada would take much more words than normal. So, I split it up. No big whoop. I'm not going to go into detail with all the apprentices. Just the ones who will impact Rose. **

**Don't hate me for making Rose have a stint in prison. It happens to some people. Not everything works out for the protagonist. Bad stuff will happen in the future too. And if she seems a little weak about the whole ordeal, that's normal. She's strong magically. Without her magic, she'd probably feel very vulnerable. Sure, she has her goblin training, but that's a small comfort compared to magic. **

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Let me know what you thought. Any thoughts are appreciated. Two reviews in particular from the last chapter gave me really good ideas for future chapters. **


	5. A Charming Mercenary

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews.**

**I own none of this. **

**This is a continuation of Canada/Charms. My Chapter names are bad, but most peoples' are. **

**I feel like there should be more here, but I have nothing to write. If you wanted to know, I write the top author notes before I write the chapter and the bottom right before I post it. **

"_Another language"_

_Thoughts_

English

_~Parsel~_

**Chapter 4: A Charming Mercenary**

**August 11, 2001**

"Rose, are you ready to go?"

Rose looked up from her work and took in her two Canadian friends. Of all the apprentices at Clarence's cottage, Jaiden and Geoff Alders were the only two that could overlook Rose's fame and really get to know her.

Well, overlook was probably the wrong word. Geoff just didn't care. Jaiden was excited to get to know the real Rose Potter. Despite how bubbly she could be at times, Rose noticed that Jaiden seemed to be very aware of touchy subjects (unlike most fans). The only time Jaiden had even asked about the war was the past May 2nd, when Rose was brooding over the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. It was just a simple, "Do you want to talk about it?"

They were very different from the rest of the people she could call friends. Most of her friends had fought or trained with her. Jaiden and Geoff were the only two she had only done mundane things with.

"Where are we going?"

"Where do we go every 11th day of the month, silly?"

Rose jumped up from her seat.

"Shit, I totally forgot. Sorry, sorry. I'll be ready in just a little bit."

Rose snatched up her papers from the sitting room table and ran up to her room to get ready for her outing. She had to stop twice as papers tumbled out of her arms. She quickly got dressed for a day out in muggle Canada and hurried out of her room. Her friends had chosen the 11th as the "Show Rose around Canada," day of the month. They were slowly taking her across the country, city by city. Today they were heading to Ottawa, Canada's capital. They had been to Toronto the month before.

Rose ran back into the sitting room where her friends were waiting for her.

"Sorry that took so long, I kept dropping my papers."

Geoff rolled his eyes. "It's fine. We're in no hurry, but you know, you wouldn't have dropped them if you weren't breezing through Master Clarence's work." He teased Rose.

"I'm not breezing through it. I'm working at my normal pace."

Jaiden cut in, "Well, your pace was made by years of exposure to your friend Hermione, so to us, you're practically sprinting. You'll be done by next spring, I figure. I'll be here for another year or two. Geoff will be here forever."

Geoff shrugged off the snipe from his little sister. "Very much by choice, thank you very much. Clarence has started to pay me for being an errand boy."

"Well, as much as I love watching you two bicker, who has the portkey?" Rose asked, mildly amused. Their bickering was a constant.

Geoff grumbled a response, pulled the portkey out of his pocket and held it out for the other two to take hold.

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As was typical of their trips into the cities, they had no plan, but Geoff had proven his resourcefulness and had pulled a tourist pamphlet out of his pocket while simultaneously taking a swig from a flask. Rose had been bugging him to be a little less blatant about drinking out in public. The compromise was the flask, which he immediately charmed to hold much more than it was supposed to.

They spent the day roaming around the city, checking out the sights and just enjoying a day out. After a lunch in downtown Ottawa, they started walking northeast towards the Canadian National War Memorial. Rose, like many war veterans, enjoyed checking out memorials. They were still in downtown when someone came up on Rose's left side and started walking in step with her.

She looked over and was confused to see someone dressed up in a bizarre costume. He was a large muscular man with a red and black outfit on, with a matching mask. He had a belt on with multiple pouches and a belt buckle with eyes that matched his mask. There was not a bit of skin showing. What made Rose tense up was the pair of swords on the man's back and the pistols strapped to his thighs.

She stopped in her tracks and was almost relieved when the weird man kept walking. She tensed up again when he turned back to look at her. Geoff and Jaiden had stopped beside her. Jaiden looked confused and Geoff looked very serious. Around them, people were giving the man a lot of glances, but kept walking, as they just assumed he was a weird guy in a costume. Some muggles were strange like that.

Rose found her voice, but it was very tense.

"Can I help you?"

Rose was amused for a second that she could tell the man was grinning, despite the red mask that covered his face.

"What? A man can't walk down the street contemplating what he's going to do with the money from his most recent assassination mission?"

_Wait, what?_

"Assassination mission?"

The man adopted an expression of deep thought and replied, "Yeah, some chica pissed off the KGB. She's been surprisingly hard to track. The trail started in Vancouver where she got a criminal record, and then she just vanished. Poof. She's been seen on cameras about once a month, on this day of the month, actually, moving city to city West to East. You don't happen to know anybody like that, do you, Rose? There's a REALLY big paycheck in it for this girl."

Rose's thoughts were running a mile a minute as her eyes were as wide as saucers. This mercenary had just admitted that he was searching for her, and he obviously knew it was her as she had called her by name.

"You're mad. Who are you?"

"Wait, how do you not know me? I'm famous. Oh, come on? I'm Deadpool. I'm like the biggest, baddest mercenary/part-time superhero-when-it-fits-me in the world. Not to mention my greatest achievement. Come on; ask me what my greatest achievement is. Ask me."

_Keep him talking, Rose. Give yourself time to think._

"What's your greatest achievement?"

"I am the world champion CHIMICHANGA EATER!"

Deadpool had thrown his arms to the sky and shouted the last bit, drawing attention to himself, but he had also turned around, so Rose quickly grabbed Geoff, who was closest and whispered in his ear.

"Get ready to run. If we have to fight, leave him to me."

Geoff nodded and told his sister, who looked terrified.

Rose looked back to Deadpool as he turned around.

"Well, you've found me. Are you just going to try and kill me in the crowded street? I'm not exactly a pushover, you know?"

"Well, they did say you should be considered armed and dangerous. You certainly don't look dangerous, except for to my heartrate."

Deadpool made a point of looking up and down Rose's figure as he said that, making Rose feel disgusted, even if Deadpool sounded like he was joking.

Rose cursed herself internally as she also realized that her apparel wasn't exactly conductive to a fight. She had matched Jaiden today and was wearing a slightly less-than-modest skirt and blouse. She was thankfully wearing flats, but she would give anything for a pair of jeans and some sneakers.

"And, yes. I am going to kill you in the middle of the street. It's a good bit of chaos. Ready? Set? FIGHT!"

Deadpool suddenly pulled his pistol from his right holster and shot into the air, causing the muggles on the street to start screaming and running around in a panic.

Deadpool then rushed Rose with one of his swords drawn. Rose quickly pulled her disillusioned daggers out and went on the defensive.

Geoff had taken the initiative on the muggle front and had thrown up some powerful obscuring charms. The charms kept anyone from remembering any specifics about the three magicals, although they would certainly remember Deadpool.

Jaiden had then snapped out of her shock and started helping Geoff while Rose was fighting.

Rose was hampered in her fight against Deadpool. He was obviously extremely well trained with his blade and had the reach advantage with its greater length to her daggers, but the goblins weren't the best swordsman for no reason, and Rose was holding her own even if she wasn't getting anywhere near hitting Deadpool. She was also struggling against her clothing.

They had only been fighting for about twenty seconds when Geoff had turned from his charming and had rushed Deadpool, completely forgetting his wand. Deadpool just disengaged from Rose and punched Geoff square in the face. Unlike the hit from the muggles in Vancouver, Geoff was instantly knocked out and slumped to the ground.

Rose had used the second of advantage to throw away one of her daggers and flicked her wand into her hand. She had thrown a curse that Deadpool had deflected with his blade, something that Rose was not expecting to be possible.

Deadpool chose that moment to open his trap.

"Ooh, a fellow mutant. This actually might be fun."

Rose wasn't going to dissuade Deadpool from thinking anything as long as he didn't think she was a witch. Deadpool used his free hand to pull his gun back into his hand and started firing at Rose. Rose threw up a physical projectile shield in an instant and stopped the bullets.

"Jaiden! Get your brother and get out of here!"

Rose ignored Deadpool's next witty comment in favor of focusing on her destination. She popped out of existence and reappeared right behind Deadpool. She quickly slashed her dagger across Deadpool's back. She wanted to convince him to drop the assassination attempt, but didn't want to kill him unless absolutely necessary.

"Hey, I just got this suit washed!"

Deadpool slashed out at Rose with his sword and she went back on the defensive. Rose apparated again behind Deadpool and got a brief glance at his now fully healed back.

_What the Hell?_

Deadpool caught Rose's second attempt at his back with his sword and turned around to face her. Rose apparated back ten feet and started firing curses at Deadpool. Deadpool just pulled his second sword out and started deflecting them. Rose noticed the sounds of sirens and saw the arrival of the first responders. She hesitated in her casting and Deadpool took the opportunity to take several objects out of his belt. He threw them at the officers and Rose's mind barely recognized them as grenades a second before they exploded.

Rose shielded herself from the shrapnel that traveled the distance towards her. Deadpool started rushing towards her again and Rose had enough. This man had just killed innocent people because they were in his way. She created an illusion of herself and apparated from her position. Deadpool slashed through the illusion.

"Huh? I'm not usually the one getting confused."

He heard the pop that indicated Potter's weird teleportation ability and felt her squeeze his arm from behind before he felt himself sucked through a small tube.

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Rose had several reasons for doing things the way she did. She didn't know the extent of Deadpool's healing, so it had to be something absolute. She didn't feel comfortable with the killing curse, not to mention the criminal implications if the Canadian Ministry found out. Finally, on the off chance that the obscuring charms didn't cover everything, she could hope that they just assumed she was a mutant, whatever that was, but she couldn't use any more abilities than she had already shown.

So with that in mind, Rose blindly side-apparated Deadpool about 25 kilometers north and 5,000 meters into the sky and let go of him. With that done, she cast a series of spells including an arresto momento and a disillusionment charm. The result was Rose comfortably descended to the Earth hidden from Deadpool's sight as he fell hopelessly.

"Oh, shit. She just fucking left me. I never even got her number."

Rose could barely even hear what he was saying due to her charms, but could hardly believe how nonchalant he was about his impending death.

Deadpool just sighed. "This is gonna hurt."

A few moments later Deadpool looked like he had an idea and Rose strengthened her listening charm, hoping to catch his thoughts, which never stayed in his damn head.

"What is it they, say? When falling from the sky, land ass first?"

He then positioned himself in a sitting position and locked himself into it as he continued to fall. Rose couldn't watch as he finally hit the ground, but she continued to descend towards him. She needed to make sure he was dead.

Rose touched down next to the small crater that Deadpool had made. She canceled all of her charms and was shocked to see Deadpool alive. He looked terrible, but certainly alive. He was also healing at an impossible rate.

"What are you?"

Deadpool looked up from examining his body's regeneration.

"Hey, there. Nice day for skydiving, don't you think? Good tip though; ass first is not the best way to land."

Rose just continued to look befuddled. She pointed her wand at him shakily.

_Why am I shaking? Get it together, Potter. You've seen weird shit before._

"Why aren't you dead?"

"That's what I keep asking. Death just never answers that question."

"You're mad. Absolutely barking."

"I think you've already mentioned that bit. Bigger question, though. Why aren't _you _dead?"

Deadpool picked up one of his guns from the ground and made to point it at Rose when he suddenly stopped and looked beside him at something only he could see.

"Hey, sweetheart. Long time no see."

Rose waited but she heard nothing.

"What? You don't like the pet name?"

_He's talking to bloody thin air. What the hell do I do?_

"Oh, you know. Just working. I get pretty close to dying sometimes in a standard 8 to 5."

Deadpool then looked at Rose briefly and back to the thin air he was talking to.

"Really? Wait. Can she see you? I didn't know you had a Mistress. Kinky. Can I watch?"

Rose went red at the implication, equally from anger and embarrassment of the thought of Deadpool watching her doing anything noteworthy.

"Hey, it was just a thought. So, don't kill her then, is that right?"

Deadpool nodded at the empty space and Rose just kept watching the weirdo.

"Fine. Who should I kill?"

"Really? The KGB contact? That's a little low tier for me. Why not a couple of the top dogs?"

Deadpool actually looked excited and almost fully healed.

"Excellent. Well, I best let you get back to work. I know you're always busy, hon."

Deadpool threw his hands up to his face as if protecting himself.

"Not the scythe. Anything but the scythe. I'll stop with the pet names. The scythe hurts."

"Who the bloody hell are you talking to?"

Deadpool turned back towards Rose.

"Ah, introductions, of course. Rose Potter meet my lovely lady friend Death. Death, my former assassination target Rose Potter."

_Yeah. He's mad._ _Just get the info you need._

"Why can't I kill you?"

"Why would you need to kill me? It's not like I'm trying to kill you or anything."

"That's EXACTLY what you are trying to do."

Deadpool waved her off.

"That was so five minutes ago. If my lovely doesn't want me to kill you, I shan't. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of the middle of nowhere and head to Russia, unless you want to do your little popping thing and get me to civilization?"

"Hell no! I'm not taking you anywhere you psycho."

"Oh, well. Nothing for it then." Deadpool pulled something out of his belt and Rose tensed up, but Deadpool just threw it at his feet and smoke erupted around him. Rose searched the smoke as it dissipated and noticed Deadpool still in the middle of it, coughing. He finished his fit and straightened up.

"Oh, right. The running bit."

Deadpool took off in a random direction with Rose's eyes watching him leave.

"What the hell?"

Rose Potter thought she was past the point of getting weirded out by things. She was an honest-to-Merlin witch after all.

Rose pushed it out of her mind for the moment. She had some loose ends she needed to check on. Rose apparated away.

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Agent Michael Murray really wished he had been assigned elsewhere. He was the only agent for his agency that was in the Ottawa area and was pretty much just paid to be in the area for quick response.

There wasn't much that could be seen from the ground, so Agent Murray went up the stairs of the nearest building and made his way to the roof to get a better vantage point. Once there, he just stood and watched the cleanup. He had already spoken to the people on the ground.

According to witnesses, two mutants had fought it out on the street in broad daylight and then disappeared. One of them was easily recognizable and Murray wondered how the hell Deadpool had been in the area without him knowing. He had contacts everywhere around the city.

The other was an unknown, and his boss hated unknowns. No one could remember anything about the other except that it was a female.

Murray looked up from watching the street and noticed movement from the roof opposite his. Someone was leaning over the roof and was watching the cleanup intently.

_Female. Exact dimensions unclear. Short. Petite. Long black hair. Civilian?_

Suddenly, the female looked up from the street as if she had felt Murray's eyes on her.

_No glasses. Eye color unknown. _

Agent Murray was then shocked when the female was suddenly not there.

_Mutant? The one fighting Deadpool? Where was Deadpool?_

Agent Murray pulled his phone out and dialed a number.

"Agent Hill? I've got something for you. A new unknown."

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Rose appeared back in the cottage and was met by Clarence, who was extremely worried.

"My dear, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Clarence. Just a few nicks. Superficial cuts. Is Geoff alright?"

"He's fine, Rose. I woke him up. Just a headache. Can you tell me what happened? Jaiden is quite inconsolable at the moment and you are covered in blood."

Rose looked down at herself. Her front was splatter with blood.

"Most of it's not mine. Let me shower and take care of Jaiden. Then we'll talk."

Rose went up to her room and used her wand to remove most of the blood from herself. Her clothes were ruined so she just vanished them. There was only so much magic could do. A quick shower later and Rose walked back into the sitting room where Geoff was laying on the couch with an ice pack on his forehead and Jaiden was curled up in a ball on a large chair. Geoff looked either asleep or very unconcerned and Rose was betting asleep with the state his sister was in. Jaiden looked terrible. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot and she had a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. She was sobbing uncontrollably, but had her eyes closed so she didn't see Rose come in.

Beverly was knelt down on the floor next to her trying to help, but looked lost. Beverly did notice Rose come in and got up to hug her. Rose returned the hug and took over with Jaiden.

Rose climbed into the large chair with Jaiden. They were both small enough that they fit. Rose wrapped her arms around the ball that was Jaiden.

"Jaiden?"

Jaiden's eyes popped open and she saw Rose. She immediately uncurled and threw her arms around Rose.

"ROSE! I'm so sorry. I was so scared. I completely froze."

"Shh. It's alright. I'm fine. Look, I've even already had my shower."

Jaiden just cried into Rose's shoulder.

"I was so useless."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm trained for these kinds of things, remember? It's what I do. You're a Charms Apprentice, right? Cheer up. We all got home safely."

"But that man. He just acted like killing you was a joke. That's not normal."

Rose giggled. Jaiden's sobbing had subsided slightly but she was still crying.

"Well, I think Deadpool has a few screws loose. Probably all of them. He started talking to an imaginary friend at one point. He was quite convinced it was his girlfriend, Death."

Jaiden gave a weak chuckle at that, but still clung on to Rose. Rose just sat with Jaiden for a while, holding her close and rubbing her back, the same way Hermione and Ginny had done with her years ago. Jaiden eventually fell asleep. Rose loosened her grip on Jaiden and slipped from the chair, leaving the girl sleeping. She walked into the kitchen and found Clarence with two of the apprentices. Clarence turned his attention to her.

"Is she alright?"

Rose nodded and started directing food out of the pantry with her wand.

"She's sleeping right now. She was pretty shaken up."

"And what about you?"

Rose waved him off.

"I'm fine. I've got a lot to process about this, but mentally and physically I'm fine."

Clarence looked defeated. "I'm sorry that you've been through so much that this doesn't faze you. And what on Earth are you doing?"

Rose raised her eyebrow at the first comment and it rose even higher at the question.

"It's fine, really. It would've happened anyway. Defense Masters are generally the ones who get called to deal with horrible things. And I'm cooking. It's my turn to cook."

"You don't need to do that. We could've taken care of tonight." His words sounded pretty weak and the apprentices with him chuckled. Rose's cooking was wonderful.

One of the apprentices spoke up.

"What about the muggles? Did they see anything?"

Rose nodded.

"A lot of them saw it happen, but Geoff put up an obscuring field. I went back afterwards and the general consensus was that it was a fight between two mutants. What the hell is a mutant?"

Clarence answered, "They are humans with special skills or abilities. They've been showing up for decades now, but in greater numbers these days."

Rose looked up from the onion she was slicing (well, watching her charmed knife slice).

"That explains Deadpool's healing. I dropped him from 5,000 meters and the guy got up and dusted himself off. He looked pretty rough for a while, but then his body just healed itself. Is it magic?"

Clarence shrugged. "The ICW has been discussing it for years. The muggles think it's genetics and the ICW is compelled to believe that too. There's no trace of magic around them, and as far as we know, there has never been a mutant witch or wizard."

Rose looked contemplative. "Weird, I'll ask Hermione about it. Shit! I'm supposed to tell her whenever someone makes an attempt on my life. I'll be right back. Can someone finish cutting the vegetables and thaw the venison? Thanks." Rose rushed out of the room in search of her mirror.

Clarence shook his head. The girl was way too nonchalant about the amount of danger she was in today. He turned to his apprentices. "Well, you heard the girl."

The apprentices just pulled out their wands and got to work from where they were sitting. There was no groaning involved for the work. Clarence smiled. Such was the true magic of charms.

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After dinner, Rose sat on the couch with a napping Jaiden in silence. Jaiden was better, but was kind of jumpy. Rose knew she would be fine, but she felt a little guilty. She had gone over what Deadpool had revealed and tried to make out the truth from the crazy.

The KGB had ordered her death and put a lot of money behind it. Was it a job offer only made to Deadpool or would there be more attempts?

More importantly, the KGB knew who she was. They had found her because of her time in prison. Grigori was definitely right about their ability to find people, but she didn't think they would reach outside of Russia to kill her.

Thoughts about Russia naturally turned her thoughts towards Natasha. What had happened to her? Did the KGB dispose of her? Was she still stuck with them? Could she do anything to help her?

Rose shook her head. She would ask Grigori to start the search again. Grigori would do it in a heartbeat for Rose. Rose had no idea what she had done to find as devoted a friend as Grigori.

Rose thought back to her encounter with Deadpool. Initially, there was part of the encounter she had written off as crazy talk, but his words seemed to haunt her.

"I didn't know you had a Mistress."

"Rose Potter meet my lovely lady friend Death."

"Death never answers that question."

Rose refused to think about the Hallows. There was no bloody way any of that was connected. Deadpool was crazy. Absolutely barmy, right?

Rose just stared at the fire for a while. She was brought of her thoughts by a gentle tapping on her shoulder. Clarence handed her a Dr. Pepper and sat in an armchair near Rose.

"Knut for your thoughts?"

Rose smiled grimly. "My thoughts could get you killed."

"Right after dinner is not the time for such thoughts. Mid-morning is the designated time for dark thoughts. After dinner is the time for a nice relaxing nap, wouldn't you say?"

Rose giggled. "Thanks for the attempt, Clarence, but I'm afraid that doesn't apply to Defense Masters. We've got 24 hour office hours for dark thoughts. No holidays either, just vacations towards wherever the next Dark Lord is. And no danger pay. These are mad times we live in," Rose joked.

Clarence laughed heartily and Jaiden started to stir from the nap she was taking. Rose shushed the older man and summoned a blanket for Jaiden. Once she was certain she was asleep, she turned back to Clarence.

"At least you know why I chose Charms mastery." He lost a bit of his smile and gestured to Jaiden. "She took it a lot harder than you did."

Rose sighed. "She'll probably space out randomly over the next couple of weeks and have numerous nightmares. I'll probably have a visit from Hermione soon."

Rose's mirror chose that moment to vibrate. Clarence jumped at the sound while Rose picked up the mirror from the coffee table where she had left it.

Clarence chuckled. "I'll never get used to that." He left the room so Rose could have her privacy.

Rose smirked and answered her mirror.

"Hey Andromeda. I'm guessing Hermione told you?"

The older woman lifted an eyebrow. "No. What was she supposed to tell me?"

Rose shrugged. "It was another failed attempt on my life. This time someone from the muggle sector, but it was one of the better attempts. The guy made the Death Eaters look like chumps."

Andromeda's eyebrows rose to her forehead. "Are you alright, dear? You seem fine, but I want to hear you say it."

"I'm fine, Andy. A few cuts are all I left with. What'd you call for if not for that? Is Teddy okay?"

Andromeda nodded. "Yes, but I'm worried about Draco. I visited him yesterday and he looked extremely tired and worried. Something is eating him up. He kept asking me clarifying questions about House Black and the House Magic."

"House Magic?"

Andromeda sighed. "Draco was also afraid that you had no knowledge of it. He asked me to coach you on it. Can we work out some time in the next few weeks to chat over the mirrors?"

"Yeah, that's fine. But what are we talking about? What are the House Magics?"

"Basically, some of the old Houses have some Magics that tie those within the House to it. Currently, that includes Draco, Teddy, and the two of us. That is all that remains of House Black. Anyone else that had any ties has been removed from the House. Now, the Magics don't do anything to impede on the day-to-day lives of the people in it, but there are some things that the House Magics can govern; things like Family Alliances, adding people to the family, inheritances, and the line of succession to Head of House."

"The House cannot make major changes to those things without the approval of the Head of House, though. They do so in a House meeting, where the major players in the House are gathered, or in our case, everyone would gather in Grimmauld since we are so few in number."

"At one of these meetings, the House would communicate its desires to the Head and it would be discussed amongst the family. The House and the Head would then debate with each other and make a decision."

Rose cut Andy off. "Wait, how do you debate with a House?"

Andromeda shrugged, "The creation of such Magics was locked away in the Department of Mysteries centuries ago, but the mechanics of it aren't important. According to the journals past Heads have left, it's just a feeling you have. Most of the time, it's a nonissue as most people don't have issues with their House Magics and everything goes smoothly, but there are records of Heads in physical pain from arguments they've had with their House. It's usually because of a change in allegiance from the members of the House."

Rose nodded. "Like House Black?"

Andromeda was grim with her reply. "Yes, House Black has been a Dark House since its inception, and yet all of its current members are against it. I'm afraid that any "debates" you have with the House Magics are going to be excruciating for you."

"Why haven't there been any requests from the House? And how would we know."

"The House isn't completely sentient. It only knows what's happening in House meetings. And it only focuses on those topics I mentioned earlier. Everything else is above it. And if the House had a request, it would either be brought up during a meeting, or Draco would have felt compelled to call a meeting, as he is the only resident of Grimmauld."

"So, is he feeling that compulsion? Is that what this is about?"

Andy shook her head. "No, that compulsion is strong. He would have sent owls immediately. We aren't even compelled to have the meeting, just compelled to be aware that one was attempted by the House. If Draco is giving you a heads up about the Magics, he might have a request."

Rose cocked her head to the side and looked contemplative, "What would that accomplish though? We have no idea if I'll be able to overcome the House in making any decisions."

"I don't know, Rose. But I told Draco that it would be painful for you and he understood that. He looked terribly conflicted. It has to be extremely important if he's contemplating it. He wouldn't put you through that for something small."

Rose closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, Rose looked Andromeda dead in the eyes. "If Draco thinks it's important, I'll do whatever I can to help him."

Rose saw a tear fall out of Andromeda's eye. "I know you will, and that's the problem. Heads have died from House conflicts before."

It was a contemplative Rose that went to bed early that night. Her thoughts kept her awake for most of the night. Jaiden's nightmares kept her up for the rest of it.

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**September 11, 2001**

Rose was shaken awake shortly before 6AM, Vancouver time.

"Rose, wake up. You'll want to see this. There's something on the television."

Rose moaned, "What? The technomages figure out a rudimentary way to make televisions work like the Wizarding Wireless and all of the sudden, you're up at Merlin's saggy left boob o'clock watching it?"

"Rose, Jaiden was awake from a nightmare and woke me up for this. Something bad has happened."

"Fine, I'll be down in a second."

Clarence left her room in his pajamas as Rose sat up. What was everyone so worked up about? They've had the TV for 3 months. She half-expected to come downstairs and see a movie playing. She gave another big yawn before grabbing her new big fluffy robe (a birthday present from Jaiden) and put in on over her pajamas. She came into the sitting room to see everyone watching the television intently. Rose just walked up silently and sat beside Jaiden, who grabbed her hand. Rose looked at Jaiden's face and grew worried. She turned towards the television, which showed a view of the New York skyline.

"This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center."

Rose and the others watched as a second plane hit the second tower. They continued to watch the coverage of what was happening and heard the reports of the Pentagon being hit by another plane.

Shortly before 7 AM, Rose was busy in kitchen, making everyone tea or coffee. She was the least affected. Her heart went out to the victims, but she had seen people killed in terrorist attacks before, as that was what the followers of Dark Lords were; just glorified terrorists.

Rose levitated the tray and started to exit the kitchen when she suddenly felt an excruciatingly painful tug on her magic. The levitation charm suddenly failed and Rose simultaneously fell to the ground in pain. She felt the pain subside but felt terribly ill.

Geoff had been drawn to the kitchen by the sound of the glass breaking and found Rose kneeling on the ground. He knelt down next to her and started asking her what was wrong when they heard the conversation from the sitting room go silent. The television could be heard in the silence.

"Oh, my God. The South Tower has collapsed."

Rose heard none of it. Geoff felt her forehead when Rose didn't reply to his queries and noticed that she was burning hot with a fever. He picked the girl up and went into the sitting room.

"Hey, I think Rose is sick. I'm going to take her back to bed."

Jaiden diverted her eyes from the television and looked at her friend. Minutes ago she had looked fine. Now she looked horrible. "I'll get some medicine and sit with her."

Clarence interjected, "Should I call a healer?"

Geoff shook his head. "Not unless she doesn't get better."

Clarence nodded and put his attention back on the new television, but he could be seen glancing at the stairs every few minutes.

Geoff laid Rose on her bed and tucked her in. Jaiden came in with some towels and the Cottage's potion supply and started tending to Rose. She talked to her brother while she worked on toweling Rose's face with a damp towel.

"What happened?"

Geoff shook his head. "I don't know. She was just on the kitchen floor with the drinks spilled all around her."

The Alder siblings kept talking for a while about either Rose or the terrorist attacks. Suddenly Rose cried out in pain, but neither sibling knew what to do for her, as they didn't know what was wrong and Rose was unresponsive. Her temperature kept steadily rising. A minute later, an apprentice came into the room and whispered to the siblings.

"Hey, Clarence wanted me to let you know that the other tower collapsed."

Geoff nodded his thanks for the message, "Hey, tell Clarence he might want to call that Healer. She's getting worse."

The apprentice nodded and left the room. Clarence came into the room minutes later.

"I've called for a Healer. They'll be here shortly. What's wrong with her?"

Jaiden just shook her head. "I have no idea. It's too severe to be a cold. She's had all of her vaccinations. I'm wary about giving her a pepper up because her temperature is ridiculously high. A muggle would be dead right now by the temp alone."

Clarence nodded his understanding and turned to Geoff.

"Can you go show the Healer up when they show and keep an eye on the television for me? I'd like to sit with her and it might get crowded in here soon."

"Of course, Master Clarence." Geoff took off towards the sitting room and Clarence summoned something of Rose's into his hands.

"Hermione Granger."

The old Master waited a few minutes before the brunette answered the mirror.

"Master Keyte? Is everything alright? Where is Rose?"

"I'm afraid Rose has taken ill." Clarence gave Hermione what they knew. "I thought you might want to be here when the healer gets here. I'm afraid none of us here know Rose's extensive medical history."

The healer chose that moment to come in and started examining Rose. The plump middle aged woman conducted some intricate spells with her wand and seemed confused by the results.

"I'm afraid I'm not coming up with anything. All the spells say she is perfectly healthy, except for the temperature. The only place I've even heard of something like this in soul magic, and the poor dear has never been exposed to such a thing."

"Umm." Everyone's eyes turned towards the mirror that was now suspended by a charm that showed Hermione. "Actually she has."

The healer gasped. "Soul magic is horribly foul magic. Who would use such magic?"

"Voldemort"

The discussion continued for a while, with Hermione insisting they have Rose moved to a hospital immediately as the specifics of the soul magic used was wrapped up tightly under privacy oaths that she would have to get permission to release.

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Unseen to everyone in the room, a cosmic entity appeared next to the bed of Rose. The figure was covered in a dark cloak and spoke with a female voice.

"I'm sorry, Mistress. It was not their time and I was unprepared to protect you from the effects."

The figure waved its hand over Rose's body. Rose's magic settled and her temperature started to drop. Rose opened her eyes for a moment and saw the figure.

"Mistress, you need to retrieve my gifts."

The figure faded from the room and Rose's eyes fell closed again.

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Rose woke up in a hospital that she was startled to realize she recognized.

She looked around the private hospital room that she recognized as the room she frequented at St Mungos. She didn't have long to contemplate anything as the door opened and a redhead she recognized walked in, carrying a plate of tea and biscuits.

"Ginny?"

"Rose!" Or at least that's what she thought she said, as her mouth was currently occupied with a biscuit.

"Eating like a Weasley, Wealsey?"

Ginny dropped her burden off on a side table and hugged Rose. When she came back up, she had finished her biscuit and stuck her tongue out at Rose.

"I've got a witch's metabolism and I'm going to use it."

"What about your mother, she's rather plump."

Ginny waved her off. "That's just the child-birthing. How are you feeling?"

"Strangely great for being here. Why am I in St Mungos? Surely the Canadian hospital would have been fine."

"Well, putting aside the fact that it's disturbing that your first thought was about the location and not what happened to you, you are here because you've been in a coma for a week and a half."

Rose sat up at that. "What? Why?"

Ginny shrugged. "No one knows. You had a massive fever for a few hours and were unresponsive. Suddenly, your fever went down and you slipped into the coma. They moved you to the Canadian hospital and after two days there they moved you here. They thought it was something to do with, you know, your missing scar," Ginny said referencing the horcrux without actually saying it, "but nothing came up. You were perfectly healthy. Just in a coma."

Rose slumped. "Huh? A week and a half?"

Rose fell into her thoughts as Ginny nodded. She recalled the weird hallucination that fit the strange ramblings of Deadpool.

"Hey, Gin?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to check on some things that might be related. Want to go on a little trip?"

Ginny nodded grimly, a look which Rose noticed.

"What's that look for?"

Ginny shook her head. "I'd do anything for you, Rose. You know that. I'm just sorry that you can't live the normal life you want."

Rose giggled. "I'm getting used to it, Gin. I should have realized my life wouldn't be normal when I found out I was a witch. That's fairly abnormal. Now, let's sneak out of here. Do you have my bag?"

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Rose apparated to the gates of Hogwarts with Ginny. She didn't want to risk apparating through the wards again, so she just played it safe and went to the gates. She waited for Minerva to get her patronus and was not disappointed when the gates unlocked themselves by a mental command from the Headmistress. Dumbles had always insisted Hagrid or Filch met guests at the gates, but it was probably just so Hagrid would always feel useful and so Filch would have more to do.

Ginny started to move towards the castle, but Rose grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the forest.

"Rose, where are we going?"

"Just trust me, Gin. I'll explain later."

Rose led Ginny by the hand through the forest before they came upon a small clearing. Rose let go of Ginny's hand and examined the clearing.

"This is where I let Voldemort Avada me."

Ginny suddenly had an appreciation for the small unassuming clearing and looked around in awe.

Rose slipped away from Ginny and examined the ground as if searching for something.

A sudden, "Ahah!" from Rose caught Ginny's attention and she turned to see Rose holding a small cracked ring.

"Rose, what is that?"

"It's the resurrection stone, Ginny."

"From the Tale of the Three Brothers?"

Rose nodded and put the stone in her moleskin bag. "Now, on to the castle."

The two made their way back through the forest. This time, Ginny memorized the path so she could find the clearing again. When they got to the castle, Minerva stood at the doors and looked at them curiously.

"Wanted a reminiscent walk through the forest, Rose?"

Rose smirked, "Not quite, Minerva. I had to pick something up from the Final Battle."

Minerva's eyes widened. "Oh. Well… Aren't you supposed to be in bed? Last I heard you were in a coma."

Rose waved off Minerva's concern. "I'm much better now. Do you mind watching over my Weasley while I retrieve something I stashed here?"

"Oi! Hang on. I thought I was coming with you? And you knew I wouldn't let you leave the hospital without someone. You tricked me."

Rose smirked. "Not quite. Yes, I tricked you, but I didn't mind spending time with you, so I was fine with the company. No. You don't want to accompany me to the next destination as it has some pretty bad memories for you."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "The Chamber?"

Rose nodded solemnly, all traces of her good mood gone. Minerva suspected it she had faked the mood for Ginny's sake.

"I'm still coming."

"But…"

"I'll be fine. It was a long time ago. I'm with you on this adventure, Potter."

Rose huffed and turned towards Minerva. "I'm happy to say I don't need your Weasley babysitting service. I'll probably be leaving right after we leave the Chamber. I'm sorry for the short visit, Minerva."

Minerva smiled. "I'm just glad you are alright. Stay safe down there."

Rose just nodded and walked towards the 2nd floor. Ginny followed and attempted to hold a conversation with Rose.

"So what are we after in the Chamber?"

"Something Ron and Hermione thought I put in Dumbledore's grave."

"So why are you telling me?"

"You were told about the horcruxes after the war. This is a secret I don't mind telling you. It's never served a purpose to tell you before. Still doesn't really, but I don't care. I trust you."

"Thanks."

Rose stopped in front of the sink and whispered the command.

_~I solemnly swear that I am up to no good~ _

"The Marauder's password?"

Rose turned to Ginny. "How'd you know?"

"I've never told anyone, but I kept the parseltongue. We both got it from a horcrux and it never left. Why didn't you just change it to something silly?"

"I wanted it to be overly difficult to get in, not impossible. Make your robes impervious. It gets nasty."

"Thanks, but I remember."

Rose nodded and hopped into the Chamber. Several minutes later she came up to the second door and repeated the second new password.

_~Lemon Drops~_

She heard Ginny giggle behind her and was happy she seemed immune to the memories of the Chamber. She stepped into the Inner Chamber and went straight to the mouth of Salazar, sparing the basilisk only a passing glance. It looked no different than the day she had slain it, except for several missing fangs from the final battle.

_~Give me the wand that you are charged with safeguarding.~_

Ginny looked at her curiously as the mouth opened. Rose answered the unasked question.

"In addition to knowing the first two passwords from key things in my life, they would have to know what they were after. It would infuriate anyone. If all works out, the Marauder's map will stay with Teddy's family and the only place written that has Dumbledore's love of lemon drops is his Special Edition Chocolate Frog card. The one that they had me write. No history books have it, although my writing of those cards is recorded. And then they would need to know this is here. Not to mention, if I die naturally, the power of it will dissipate."

With that explained, Rose walked forward and grabbed the Elder Wand for the small indention she had carved into Salazar's tongue.

"The Elder Wand?"

"Yes. Don't tell anyone I have it."

"Ron? Hermione"

Rose shook her head. "You are the only person I want to know about this, Gin. You know how my parents used Pettigrew to knock Voldemort off the obvious choice?"

Ginny nodded.

"The idea is solid. But their choice of who to trust was a mistake. I'm not making the mistake by choosing you. Someone might come after Ron and Hermione thinking they know my secrets, but you will be the only one who knows any secret that could be disastrous in the wrong hands."

"Why tell me at all?"

Rose stared down at the wand in her hand.

"If I'm right, I don't know what's going to happen in the next few minutes. If I'm compromised, someone needs to be able to tell Ron and Hermione about my mistake. Go back up to the surface, Gin. I'll be right behind you."

Ginny nodded. "Be careful."

Ginny walked out the door and looked back at Rose as she pulled the other two Hallows out of her moleskin pouch.

An hour later, Rose ascended from the Chamber and found Ginny leaning up against the wall.

"How'd it go?

Rose smiled. "I was worried over nothing."

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Rose was returned to Canada after her short trip to England. Rose quietly spent the next few months finishing her Charms Mastery.

She reached out to Grigori every day and asked how the resumed search for Natasha was going. Grigori was doing the search solo this time around, as no one else could be spared. He stopped his search when it appeared like the KGB had dropped off the face of the Earth. Bodies of KGB agents and executives were found everywhere, each killed in one of two manners, either professionally or in a comical manner.

She talked to Andromeda every other week about the specifics of House Black. Consequently, Teddy asked when he could call his Mama, so she started calling him every night, which made Teddy very happy.

Rose attempted to find out what was wrong with Draco, but he just assured her that it wasn't a problem yet, he was just worried. He said he would know for certain in the next year. Rose continued to pester him anyway.

She exchanged several letters with her fellow Defense Masters and eventually gave all 15 of them their own communication mirrors. Hermione jokingly said she was going to start charging Rose for them.

Outwardly, Rose looked fine. If anyone noticed Rose slowly growing more and more depressed, no one mentioned it.

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

**In the Chamber**

Rose sat on the cold floor and put all three Hallows in her lap together, holding her breath. When nothing happened, Rose let her breath out and relaxed slightly. Her relief was premature.

The figure that she remembered from her hallucination slowly came into view in front of her and Rose consciously kept her breathing steady. She would not panic today.

"Mistress."

"I'm assuming you are Death?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"So I am the Mistress of Death?"

"Yes you are, Mistress."

Rose took a deep breath.

"What does that mean? Am I immortal?"

"No, Mistress. Not in the conventional sense."

"What do you mean?"

"You will forever be the Mistress of Death. When you die, you will continue that role as a cosmic being, like me."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, as a cosmic being, you would take on the role of an observer in the living world. However, you could visit with your friends in the realm of the dead at any time you wish. You could even chose to stay in the realm of the dead forever as if you were a resident. It is not a curse, Mistress. You have not gained any new responsibilities with the title."

"Then what's the reason for having a Mistress?"

"There is no reason if you so choose, Mistress. It is just the nature of things. Death must have a Master, or in your case, a Mistress. Only one, for all of eternity."

"What can I do as your Mistress? Am I more powerful now?"

Death shook its head. "No, in the same sense that I am no more powerful than any living being. My power comes from my immortality. You have that same brand of immortality, so you are technically more powerful than I, as you have your magic, which you will most likely keep when you transcend into a cosmic being. The only true advantage you gain right now is the ability to call me at your pleasure. I can be a wellspring of information as I can be anywhere at a given time and I am directly connected to the Life Force of all living brings. My army of reapers can be called at your command as well, but they are not powerful beings. They simply assist me as I ferry souls into the afterlife."

"What about the Elder Wand?"

"It is simply a powerful wand. Use it or don't. You are well aware that the power behind your spells is only a little part of what makes you a powerful witch. Its ability to switch owners has been disabled upon your becoming my Mistress."

"The stone?"

"It functions the same as before, but as you are connected to death, they will not feel the pain associated with being where they don't belong, at least for a longer time than before. Don't hold their shades here for long."

"The Cloak?"

"It has not changed, but if I might make a suggestion, Mistress, you would be wise to find a way to blend in public, even when using your abilities as a witch. I employ such a disguise on occasion."

Death's form faded into an old woman, before switching into a middle aged businesswoman, before reverting into a young woman with long, dark purple hair and black eyes. She retained her black cloak, but it was pulled down to show her face. She had a heart-shaped face and a kind expression on her face.

"This is the form that I frequent the most."

"So Deadpool was right about you being a woman?"

Death shook her head.

"I met Deadpool two years ago when I came to collect his soul and found I could not. He came near me dozens of times in the span of a few days, but that healing factor of his truly prevents his death. I fear his only chance out is from a Killing Curse. But when I met him, he was near enough to his end that he could see me, and I was in this form. Since you became my Mistress I have felt most comfortable in a female form, so I did not correct him. He has, however come to the ridiculous conclusion that I am his girlfriend."

Rose would have giggled at Death's awkward predicament had she not been so overwhelmed.

"So what happened on the 11th?"

"When the towers fell and those lives were lost, it truly wasn't their time. It is not a foreign concept to go before your time. It happens every day to thousands of people. But this caught me unprepared. My reapers and I were busy ferrying souls and I could not protect you from the pull of their deaths as I have the past three years. It caused your soul to fluctuate in your body violently. Now that you have brought my three gifts together, you have formalized your position as Mistress of Death and are protected from the pull. You will occasionally feel it, but it won't be violent. If you feel it, you may call me and I can tell you what is happening."

"What if I don't want to be your Mistress?"

Death was silent for a full minute.

"I'm sorry. The moment you held the stone and the cloak and were the master of the wand, you were my Mistress. It cannot be undone. I can only show you how it is not a burden, Mistress."

Rose shook her head.

"It is power no human should have. Is this power safe from being stolen from me?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Then it is a burden I will deal with."

"You should know, Mistress, while I cannot see the future, I have been roaming the realms since the beginning of time. You may see this as a negative now, but you shall see that it is not a cursed existence. There are many beings in the realm of the dead that I have grown fond of and visit on occasion."

"You grew fond of them? I was not expecting you to be capable of emotions."

Death smiled with her feminine face.

"None of my emotions are fake, Mistress, as I cannot lie to you. I have no need to hide my feelings in the living realm as there are only four people who can see me."

"Four?"

Death nodded.

"You, Deadpool, Hel and Thanos."

"Who are Hel and Thanos?"

"Hel guards the physical gate to the afterlife, I believe there is reference to her in your Norse Mythology. Thanos is a monumental asshole on the other side of the galaxy who wants to make me his bride. He's more deluded than Deadpool, and more violent. At least Deadpool makes jokes."

"Aliens?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

Rose snorted. "I'm talking to the cosmic entity of Death. I think I can handle aliens. I'm having trouble believing in someone more delusional than Deadpool."

Rose leveled Death with an intense look.

"I will need some time to get used to this idea. Is that okay?"

"Of course, Mistress. I am at your command. May I be excused?"

Rose was already walking to the door of the Chamber, working on improving her mood so Ginny was not suspicious so the reply was more cheerful than she felt.

"That's fine, Death. It was good to meet you."

Death faded out of the Chamber.

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

**April 2002**

Rose felt genuinely happy for the first time in months, since her discussion with Death. She did not need a mask to comfort her friends. Only a few of her friends were able to come from abroad to celebrate with her. Of the England, only Hermione and Draco had made the trip. Grigori had shown up, with his apologies from Master Yurievich.

Clarence walked up to her as the cottage was in full party mode in celebration of Rose's new Mastery.

"You are aware that this is typically a three year apprenticeship, right?"

Rose just smiled at Clarence.

"You're just going to miss my cooking, aren't you?"

"Drats, I've been found out." Clarence teased. "But in all seriousness, I shall miss you. It's been nice to have a fellow Master in the cottage to terrorize the apprentices."

Rose rolled her eyes. "When have we ever terrorized any of them?"

"Well, you did hold Geoff's manhood at wand point that one time."

"I was drunk!"

"Speaking of drunk," Hermione walked up at that exclamation, "who gave you that drink? I never did deliver on my promise of castration."

Rose held her head in her hands. "Dear Merlin, why is everyone mentioning Geoff's genitals?"

"What about my genitals?"

Geoff walked up with a beer and handed Rose a Dr. Pepper.

She thanked him and smirked. "Well, Geoff. I don't believe you've met my best friend Hermione yet. Hermione, this is Geoff, the resident alcoholic. Geoff, this is Hermione, she works with the British Department of Mysterious currently. Something about the magic behind filing cabinets or some such thing. Very top secret."

"Rose Lily Potter! Just because my current boss is an absolute pig with horrible filing habits does not mean you have to demean my work!"

Rose held her hands up in surrender but giggled at her friend. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. You complain about him all the time."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Rose's antics, "Well, I'm going to go mingle with some of the apprentices. I talk to Rose every day, so I think I will share during the party. Later."

Hermione left the group and went over to where Jaiden was talking to Grigori, who was employing a translation charm courtesy of his favorite globetrotting witch.

"Hey, Grigori, Jaiden. Nice to see you two again."

Jaiden turned and gave Hermione a smirk that Grigori didn't see. "Ah, Hermione. Wonderful. Come join us. I was just about to grill Grigori here on something."

Hermione raised her eyebrow "And that would be?" She went to take a gulp of her drink.

Jaiden turned back to Grigori, "How long have you been in love with Rose?"

From the other side of the room, Rose saw Hermione do an honest-to-Merlin spit-take at something Jaiden had said and giggled. At least her friends were getting along. She turned around just as Grigori looked over in her direction. Hermione caught the look and looked amazed. How had she missed this?

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

No one accompanied Rose to the airport this time. Security had been beefed up in the wake of the terrorist attacks the past September in airports around the world and Rose didn't want to risk someone noticing something fishy.

So Rose waited alone for her flight. She looked at her left hand and the new ring she had on her middle finger. Her Charms medallion was just as fascinating as her Defense medallion. She was looking forward towards her next one.

"Flight 903 to Athens, Greece is now boarding."

Rose walked onto the plane as sat in her first class seat. She looked out the window and thought about everything that had happened in Canada. There were definitely some bad points to her time here, like her time in prison, getting attacked by Deadpool or realizing her connection to Death. But Rose thought it was worth it. She certainly didn't have a boring life.

**A/N: Deadpool was surprisingly hard to write for someone who likes to break the 4****th**** wall in his own comics/games. **

**Thanks for the reviews, guys. I try to reply to anyone who asks a question, but you have to be signed in to get a response. Let me know who else from the Marvel universe you'd like to see. **

**Eh, short A/N for a long chapter. I'm going to bed right after I post this. I spent all night writing this. I can't even remember any of the things I wanted to mention in this note. **


	6. A Pipe Dream

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews. The longer ones or the ones with questions will get responses. I love communicating with you people.**

**I own none of this. **

**I almost put a spoiler here. What is wrong with me? **

**Oh, I'm taking ideas for Marvel characters that should make cameos or Omake ideas. The main plot-line and a few minor lines are all that are really decided. My story is fluid at the moment. After all, Geoff was never supposed to have a sister, but I changed my mind about five minutes before I wrote Jaiden.**

**New country, new OCs. I'm in heaven. (I have an OC writing problem, someone stage an intervention) **

"_Another language"_

_Thoughts_

English

_~Parsel~_

_Before the seas and lands had been created._

_before the sky that covers everything,_

_Nature displayed a single aspect only_

_throughout the cosmos; Chaos was its name,_

_a shapeless, unwrought mass of inert bulk_

_and nothing more, with the discordant seeds_

_of disconnected elements all heaped_

_together in anarchic disarray._

Metamorphoses by Ovid (8 A.D.)

**Chapter 5: A Pipe Dream**

**June 2002**

The Athens Academy of Transfiguration was one of hardest magical buildings in the world to hide. Located directly underneath Mount Pentelicus, the Academy was always watchful of the work taking place in the marble quarry that worked in the mountain. Several times, the quarry workers came close to uncovering a room of the Academy, but strategic cave-ins caused the workers to assume that area was unstable and they avoided digging in those areas.

With over one hundred apprentices enrolled at any given time, the Academy had dozens of classrooms of various sizes to accommodate everyone, as well as one dueling arena. All these rooms had only one thing in common; everything was made/transfigured from marble.

Marble was the single hardest thing to transfigure in existence, and it was the only thing that apprentices were allowed to start with in their work. The Masters didn't hand out objects for them to transfigure, they just made the apprentices find a transfiguration pattern that was viable. For example, whereas it was not possible to transfigure straight from marble to a bird, you could transfigure the marble into rock, then clay, then a teacup, then a bird.

It was a result of this teaching style that resulted in many of the old Greek myths. The Masters at the time never did find out what Daedalus was trying to transfigure when he created the Minotaur, or why he tried to hide it in a labyrinth in Crete.

The Masters that taught at the Academy were generally only scheduled for short periods of time, with only a few that remained at the Academy full time.

Minerva McGonagall was one of those Mistresses that taught at the Academy occasionally, and always during the summer. But this was the first summer that she had a former student of hers waiting to greet her after her portkey trip.

She had told Minerva to expect her, but Minerva was surprised when she encountered a very subdued Rose Potter in the entrance hall as she portkeyed in.

"Mistress McGonagall. A pleasure to see you again."

Minerva's shock was very clear on her face at such a greeting, so she could be forgiven for reverting to an old war-time precaution.

"Rose, what did I tell Umbridge when she constantly said you would never become an auror?"

The slightest tilt of Rose's lips was the only amusement Minerva got out of her. "That you would do everything in your power to make sure I became one. Of course, it didn't help that I changed my mind after the war." Only ingrained habit made her ask a follow up question, "Where did I go this past September before I came into the school for a visit?"

"The forest, to retrieve something you had left from the war. Why did you address me as you did? You can always call me Minerva, Rose."

Rose winced and looked out of the corner of her eyes at the other people loitering in the room, "Please, Mistress. Apprentice Potter is more appropriate. Shall I help you to your rooms, Mistress?"

Minerva just set her mouth into as tight a line as possible and nodded. She would get her answers in private if it were the last thing she did. As she walked with the young woman through the halls towards the Masters' Quarters, she attempted some idle small talk, but kept questions about the country as a whole, and got favorable responses from Rose.

Finally, they arrived at Minerva's temporary office, which her bedchamber was off of, and Minerva waved Rose to enter the office. As she shut the door to her office behind her, Minerva found herself in a tight hug from the young witch.

"Oh, you have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face, Minerva."

Rose pulled back from the older woman, but Minerva just pulled her back into the hug.

"What's been happening to you, dear?"

"Nothing, really. I just miss everyone."

Minerva pulled back from the other witch and looked at her curiously.

"You're lying to me. You've been away from everyone for longer periods than this and been fine. I know you talk to Hermione and Teddy every night, and Ronald almost as often. What's really the problem? Have you made friends here?"

Rose withered under her stern ex-transfiguration professor's stern look and gestured to the chairs, but Minerva just pulled her into her bedchamber and sat her down on a couch. She called an elf for tea and motioned for Rose to speak.

"Well, I guess I haven't really made any friends here. Everyone really seems divided into two camps when it comes to me. You've either got the people who revere me because of my bloody fame, or you've got the people who seem to not want me here entirely. I don't exactly feel welcome here."

Minerva was appalled. "Why ever not? What have they got against you? Are they blood purists?"

Rose shook her head. "I haven't really seen all too many of those types around. They just… Well…" Rose rubbed her hands together nervously before she reached into her robes and pulled out two medallions. Minerva gasped as she looked a Rose's hair and noticed the hairclip was missing.

"Why are you not wearing those?"

"It's just easier. The comments just kept getting on my nerves."

The Headmistress narrowed her eyes, "What have they been saying?" She received a shrug in response.

"It's nothing important. They're just being stupid."

Minerva just pulled Rose's hand over to her and ran her thumb over the words scarred on the back of it. "Forgive me if I don't just believe all is well. I still haven't forgiven myself for these scars when I told you to keep your head down. You're going to put your medallions back on and tell me what they are saying and why you suddenly care about what the public is saying."

Rose hesitated, so Minerva gave her a bit of her teacher's glare™ and Rose complied. Once her medallions were back in place, she let out a huff before she began.

"Most of the comments are about how I must think I'm such a big shot with my masteries even if they're in soft subjects like Charms and Defense." Minerva looked incredulous at that, especially the Defense part. "Yeah, that's what I thought, but they just keep going on and on about how Transfiguration is the hardest subject and mine are pointless. And it's just getting bloody annoying; even though I know they're wrong. But I can't just hex them to prove that Defense is better, because that's not only immoral it's also slightly illegal. So, they just keep running their mouths like they're the best thing since Merlin. I've just been trying to keep my head down and not wearing the medallions has helped a little."

"What about the other group? What are they saying?"

Rose scoffed. "The bloody fanclub? They just make everything worse. It's Lockhart all over again. They just keep giving the Transfiguration purists more things to throw at me."

Minerva closed her eyes for a moment. "Now that's not a phrase I've ever wanted to hear. Transfiguration purists. What have the Masters done about it?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "They're included in those two groups. But there are more purists than fans."

"What on Earth is wrong with these people? Is that what the whole ordeal in the entrance hall was about?"

With a sigh, Rose nodded. "Yeah. Everyone is really big on proper titles here."

"That's strange. It wasn't nearly as bad last year. So why aren't they calling you Mistress?"

Rose just raised an eyebrow and Minerva caught on.

"Ah, because Charms and Defense doesn't matter, huh? We'll see about that."

"No, no, no. Just leave them be. There's no need to get involved in this."

Minerva was confused. "What? You want them to keep this up? I certainly don't want to see the transfiguration community filled with arrogant airheads who think themselves to be above everyone else. Just imagine what would happen if they came across a Dark Lord. Their arrogance would be their downfall and there would be no Defense Masters to save them if they alienate them. I dare say that your fellow Defense Masters will be appalled when you tell them this."

"Why would I tell them about this?" Rose was genuinely confused.

"They're disrespecting you, and by extension, the rest of them. The Defense community may be small compared to the rest of the Magical World, but they should be respected as any other Masters. You could just challenge them to a duel and put them in their place, Rose. You and I both know from the war that some people don't react to mere words."

Rose scowled, not at her former professor's viewpoint, but from a technicality, "Not here. Apparently the new rule is that any duels have to be Transfiguration only."

Minerva matched Rose's scowl. "What on Earth had been happening this past year? I know that we've always had a proud Transfiguration community, but even at the Academy, I've never heard of this much intolerance for other magical arts." Minerva ignored her irritation for a moment to focus on the girl in front of her. "But why should that affect you dueling? You've used transfiguration in dueling before. And you are probably ahead of schedule once again on getting your mastery."

Had Minerva not taught the girl for so long, she might have missed the look of self-loathing that flitted across Rose's face before settling into a mask of indifference.

"I really don't care. They can talk all they want. I won't let them get a rise out of me. I'm doing better at controlling my impulsiveness."

Minerva wasn't convinced and she really wanted to discover the reason behind the self-loathing she had caught.

"How are your classes coming along?"

"They're fine."

The short 'all is well' comment was as good as a confession from Rose and Minerva hopped off the couch as fast as her aged bones would allow her and moved into her office, with the younger girl scrambling after her. Minerva touched a rune on her desk and thought of the name she wanted. When a few pieces of parchment appeared on her desk, she snatched them up and turned back to the confused girl to read.

"Apprentice Potter is struggling with the most basic of tasks and cannot follow instructions. Apprentice Potter has shown no improvement." Minerva was starting to get angry as she continued to read her fellow Masters' words. "Apprentice Potter is wasting our time. Oh Merlin, don't teach if you have no patience. Here's one that respects you at least. And it's longer than one sentence. Mistress Potter shows no aptitude for transfiguration. This is surprising given her studious nature. Mistress Potter knows the theory extremely well, but seems to have trouble starting most transfiguration chains. It is possible the marble is a barrier, but based off her Defense mastery, she should have plenty of magical power to transfigure marble."

Minerva looked up and was pleased that instead of the self-loathing she expected to see on Rose's face, Rose looked frustrated.

"So, is this 'fine'? Or would you rather tell me what's wrong so I can help?"

"Well, no. But I'll figure it out. I shouldn't expect to get this as quickly as I picked up Charms and Defense, right?"

"Well, let's have a tutoring session right now. We'll see if I can't get you over this little bump."

Three hours later, no progress had been made and the confused Hogwarts Headmistress and frustrated student were very unhappy.

"Okay, Rose. I'm not sure what the problem is, so I want you to give me an extremely detailed account of everything you are doing. Don't leave anything out."

Rose gave the small slab of marble another glare before turning back to Minerva.

"I'm intending to eventually change the marble into a toothpick. My transfiguration path is marble, rock, steel, needle then toothpick. The incantation to start is 'marmadtram' with a counterclockwise half circle starting from top to bottom." Minerva nodded and Rose continued. "I'm pushing my magic into the transfiguration on the emphasized and and…" Rose was cut off.

"What do you mean by, 'pushing your magic'?"

Rose looked over at Minerva's befuddled face. "You know, you have to force your magic into a transfiguration."

"I've never heard of anyone having to push their magic into a transfiguration. How long have you been doing that?"

Rose dropped her jaw a little. "My whole life! I couldn't do any transfiguration until I figured that bit out."

Minerva scowled, "I remember you took two weeks to really get started in my class, but I remember one day you came in and had caught up with everyone. I figured you were just struggling with the visualization like a lot of muggleborns do."

Rose shook her head. "Once I had seen you turn into a cat and back, any problems I might have had with visualizing one object turning into another went away quickly. Are you telling me that I've been transfiguring wrong for 10 years?"

"I don't think so, dear. Transfigurations don't just accidently work. But it sounds like there's a barrier there somewhere. What is confusing me is that if you had a barrier on your magic, you would have to force all of your spells."

"All I've ever had to force is Transfiguration and things like a Patronus and the Aegis, and you're supposed to have to force those. Do you know how I'm supposed to fix it?"

Minerva frowned. "I'm afraid not. I'll have to check my books and ask a few questions. I'd recommend you keep attending your classes and work on not forcing magic into transfigurations in your spare time. Start with the basics, if you must. Now, let's move to a lighter subject, since we've been working for so long. Are you actually going to show up at the conference next weekend or are you going to skip another one?"

Rose quirked her head to the side, "What conference?"

Minerva paused for a moment and put her head in her hands. "Oh, sweet Morgana. Remember, Minerva, you love this girl." She raised her head to stare at Rose. "The ICW conference, Rose. The biyearly weekend conference. You are aware that having a Mastery grants you a seat in the ICW, right?"

"What? No one has ever told me that before. Why have I not heard of this?"

"I'm just going to guess that it's because everyone thought you knew and just didn't want to attend."

Rose groaned. "What else don't I know? Have I upset anyone by missing them? Can I set a proxy for the seat?"

Minerva indulged herself with a rare long sigh before setting her lips into a tight line. "You can't and shouldn't proxy this seat. Every vote in the ICW is important, Rose. No one is going to make a big fuss over the ones you've missed so far, but you really should be at them."

"I'm not saying I won't go. I just want to know these things. I feel like I'm always learning something new that I should have known for a long time. But I won't make you explain all this to me. I'll make 'Mione explain it to me when I call her tonight."

"It's no problem, Rose. I'll probably have to go early next weekend, so we'll find someone to portkey with you."

"Thanks. I should go. I was actually supposed to call 'Mione a half hour ago. If I don't, she'll stay at work all night. I'll see you tomorrow, Minerva."

Rose pulled her Invisibility Cloak out of her bag and held it up to her old professor. "Easier to avoid the idiots." She threw it over her head and walked quickly out of the office, intent on having a long chat with her best friend about assuming she knows things.

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

It was three days after that conversation that Rose got an unexpected mirror call.

Rose had just fallen asleep in her small room at the Academy when her mirror began buzzing much louder than normal. Rose groaned and tried to focus on the annoying noise. It took her several seconds for her brain to recognize the volume of the mirror, but she shot up quickly when she did, since the mirror would only be this loud if it was an emergency.

She quickly grabbed her mirror and activated it. "Potter."

"I need you in London. Two hours ago."

"Draco? Grimmauld Place?"

Draco Malfoy merely nodded in response, but Rose saw a storm of emotions behind his eyes.

"I'll be there as quick as possible."

Draco shut the mirror off without replying and Rose quickly jumped off her bed and threw on a dressing gown and some slippers and hurried out her door. Once she arrived to the entrance hall, she ran to the fireplace that was connected to the floo, threw some powder into it and said, "Greek Ministry of Magic."

She reappeared in an atrium similar to the British Ministry, but with a lot more marble and a lot more columns. She walked straight up to the security desk and quickly got to the point with the lone security guard in the empty atrium.

"_Do you know if I can get an emergency international portkey made at this time?"_

The guard scoffed and rudely waved her off. _"Not at this hour. You'll have to wait until morning. And the portkey office here usually comes in late on Fridays, so it'll be about an hour before noon. Tough luck."_

Rose glared at him. She would have retorted, but she did have somewhere to be.

She turned away from him and walked towards the apparition point. She had a backup plan, but she had never attempted to do it. It would supposedly wear out most witches and wizards, but she didn't really have a choice.

Rose took a second to visualize her destination, as she had only been there once. She took a deep breath and turned on her heel. A second later, Rose fell onto the ground inside the empty and dark Great Coliseum of Rome.

She took a few seconds to get up and compose herself from the long distance apparition before she visualized another location and turned again. Rose fell onto her knees upon arrival and immediately lost the contents of her stomach in the middle of the magical district of Paris. A lone wizard was in the alley, and he just ignored the girl, probably assuming she was trying to apparate while drunk.

Rose took a few deep breaths before she stood up again. Another apparition like that would have probably been impossible for another few seconds, but London was much close to Paris than Paris was to Rome. She turned on her heel one last time and appeared inside the sitting room of Grimmauld Place, thankfully not waking the only occupant of the room, who was much shorter than Draco Malfoy.

Rose tiptoed out of the room, leaving little Teddy Lupin asleep in the armchair and headed towards the kitchen, where she found Andromeda and Draco sharing a cup of tea. Her attention was immediately drawn to the blood stained cut of Draco's sleeve, but the skin underneath was fine, likely healed by Andromeda.

"Hey, guys. Draco, are you alright?"

Andromeda looked up and gave Rose a tight smile to the woman, but Draco just continued to stare at his cup of tea.

"I'm fine. Can you please call a meeting?"

Rose forced a fake smile as she walked over and leaned down to get closer to Draco's face. She forced him to look at her. "I would, but someone is in my chair."

Draco blinked and looked at the table he was seated at and realized that he was indeed sitting at the head of the table, a place Rose would certainly need to formally start. He silently stood up and moved to the seat opposite of Andromeda, which was to the right of the head. Rose sat down in the vacated chair and dropped her fake smile, as it was not helping Draco as she had hoped.

Now she just had to deal with useless extremely outdated formalities.

"Hear ye, oh most Ancient and Noble House of Black. This instance of meet of the revered House of Black is now in session. In attendance is the entirety of House Black, with Rose Potter-Black serving as Head. To the left of the Head is Andromeda Tonks-Black and to the right of the Head is Draco Malfoy-Black. Also in attendance is Edward Lupin-Black, current Heir to the House of Black, who is in another room of this Noble Manor of the House for reasons that prevent his presence at the table. This meeting is called by Draco Malfoy-Black at his request. We shall hear from Draco Malfoy-Black after I have conferred with the House and found that everything is in order."

Rose shook herself out of that dreadful monologue and glanced over at Andy to make sure she had gotten all of that right. After getting the nod, Rose pulled out her wand and summoned the Black family Ring to her. She held the ring tightly in her hand and pushed her magic into it.

What happened next was hard for Rose to explain. According to Andy, past Heads had written that at the first House meeting they presided over, an imprint of their personality had split from them and integrated into the magic. Rose finally understood what that meant as she felt what felt like a small crowd of generalized consciousness just outside of her perception. Rose tried and failed to truly focus on the consciousness mix, and everything seemed hazy inside of it, but Rose could clearly make out what felt like her own consciousness in the mix.

Rose lost herself in her thoughts for a moment as she thought about what she was witnessing, before she realized that the House (that's what she identified the consciousness mix as) was quite narrowly focused. Outwardly, Rose smiled as she confirmed Hermione's hunch on how to deal with the House.

Inwardly, Rose sent a single thought at the House, _The Ancient and Noble House of Black is in meeting. Head Black is presiding. How says the House?_

A generalized acceptance came from the House which gave Rose all the incentive to continue.

"The Magic of House Black is in attendance. Will Draco Malfoy-Black stand and speak his piece?"

Draco stood with every bit of regality as he had grown up with, looking every bit the pureblood prince.

"Head and House Black, I came before you with two requests. The first is very simple. If it pleases the Head and House, I would like to formally renounce my claim upon the name of Malfoy and change my name from now and forever to stand singularly with the Most Noble name of Black. The name of Malfoy would only bring shame as members of that name with no relation to the House of Black have acted in manners unbefitting members of nobility such as those of the House of Black. Thus this is my first request. I will hold my silence of my second request until the House and Head have passed judgement on this request."

A few moments passed as Rose noted the extremely intricate way Draco had just asked for a name change. Whether by luck or design, the wording was as such that Rose had no doubt the House Magic would accept it.

Rose quickly sent Draco's exact wording to the House as well as her own acceptance of the request and got an acceptance in response.

"The House and Head of Black have come to an agreement. Draco Malfoy-Black, your request is granted. What is your second request?"

Rose looked into Draco's eyes and was startled to see that he was terrified behind his mask.

"My second request is as follows. In my immediate blood family, I have a brother that was cast out of the name of Malfoy for various reasons not of concern to the House of Black. As he was the Son of a Daughter of Black, he was simultaneously thrown out of the House of Black when our father threw him out of the name of Malfoy. However, an opportunity has arisen for the Noble House of Black to bolster its numbers. This denounced brother of mine has miraculously found himself with a magically strong daughter. Her father, the scum that he is, hates and renounces magic and as such, hates his daughter."

Rose felt her blood chill as she continued to listen. It was an eerily familiar scenario to her own and she could almost prophesize what Draco would say next.

"Just tonight, I witnessed the child perform accidental magic and witnessed as her father punished her brutally for it. I informed the authorities and they have removed the child from the father. Thus brings me back to my request. As this child carries the blood of a Black, it is possible for her to take a place into the House of Black and as her blood uncle, I do have a legal claim to her. I request that the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black allow me to adopt this child and bring her into the House of Black where she can flourish in her strong magic."

Rose struggled to push aside her anger and think. Draco had certainly presented the argument well from a pureblood standpoint. Even though Rose could certainly see places where Draco was either being vague or telling half-truths, Rose was fairly certain that the House would not be able to pick out these instances. Still, it was with a sense of foreboding that Rose repeated Draco's request. She abstained from sending her own response to the request, as she wanted to gauge the House's response first.

Almost instantly after Rose had finished internally dialoguing the request to the House was she bombarded with several vague queries from the House. It seemed that Rose had underestimated its deductive power. Rose spent several long minutes trying to push the House away from the holes that Draco had left in his explanation. The queries eventually stopped and Rose thought for a second that she had given the House enough.

Rose tentatively inquired about whether or not the House was ready to make a decision. Suddenly, Rose felt a sharp pain that she identified as the House tugging forcefully at her magic as well as a resounding _Denied._

Rose didn't know how she knew how to argue with the House, but she flared her magic at the House in a questioning challenge. _Why?_

As if offended at her questioning, the House sent Rose another healthy dose of pain, but it was still far short of anything she had ever experienced. _Not enough information._

Rose felt pretty confident that she could argue this point, as so far, the House had yet to show her anything that could be considered pain on her tolerance scale. She sent an opposing challenge to the House. Her message was very clear. _I want to accept it._

The young Head of House quickly discovered that she had just underestimated the House Magic a second time as her body suddenly felt like someone had taken a tire iron to several places simultaneously. _Absolutely not._

Rose persevered through the increasing pain. _Then give me a better reason. House Black currently only has four members. We need all the noble blood we can gather. _

This brought a temporary respite from the pain as the House digested this information. Rose decided to press her advantage. _What would the House require to accept this request?_

There was silence from the House and Rose sat there for several long moments before she recalled how simple minded the House was. It probably _couldn't_ make the terms, only accept or deny and give a vague reason why. She looked up to Draco and Andromeda who were watching her worriedly, which reminded Rose that she was only recently in a lot of pain.

Putting off the thought of her easy dismissal of pain for later contemplation, Rose softly called out for Kreacher and asked the elf for some tea. She turned back to Draco and gave him a small smile before focusing back on the House. It was going to be a long night.

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The sun was just beginning to peek into the sole window of the Grimmauld Place kitchen when Rose finally focused back on the other occupants of the room. Andromeda was valiantly fighting the pull to sleep, but Draco was staring intently at Rose, though he too looked exhausted. Rose certainly wasn't fairing much better, but the seven cups of tea she had consumed over the past few hours had certainly helped.

Rose cleared her throat to get Andromeda's attention and turned herself to look Draco in the eyes as she spoke. Her voice was raspy as if from disuse, though she had not spoken a word in the past few hours.

"Draco Black, your request to adopt your niece and give her admittance into the House of Black cannot be accepted as it stands. However the House and Head have come to an agreement about a counter-proposal. Should you choose, you may adopt your niece under the following two conditions. First, you must either be married prior to the adoption," Draco started as if struck so Rose hurried to continue, "or you must allow either Andromeda or myself co-adopt her." Draco visibly relaxed and raised an eyebrow in question at the young Head, which earned him a smile in response.

"Second, you must raise her in a manner befitting the House of Black. The House and I have agreed that this means you must raise her to understand her standing as a Black, to act in a proper manner befitting a lady of the House, and to understand her position as a member of high society above the common folk. This you must swear upon your magic if the House is to accept her as a member of this Noble House. What say you?"

Draco nodded. "This offer is most gracious. I accept it gratefully."

"Then so ends this meet of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Go forth and bring glory to the House. So mote it be."

Rose threw the House ring she had been clutching clear across the room and let it impact violently against the wall. She laid her head on the hard kitchen table and let out a heavy sigh.

Without raising her head, she called out, "Draco do we have any Pepper Up potions here?"

Draco blinked at the question. "Yes, we've got some. Shall I go get them?"

Rose shook her head on the table. "No. Kreacher can get them. We'll need the energy." She picked her head up and looked tiredly at Draco. "What _you_ can do is tell me what happened."

Draco finally tore his eyes from Rose and stared at the ceiling before he began.

"Three years before I was born, my parents had another son that they named Abraxas after my grandfather. When he was two, they discovered that he had been born without magic and was a squib. I'm sure you guessed that from the request, but he was thrown out of the house for that and sent to live in an orphanage. My parents started trying for another child until they had me. "

"After the war was over, I hunted down Abraxas and spoke to him. I just wanted to make sure he was okay and doing well. He seemed to have inherited Lucius's business sense, because he is doing extremely well for himself, despite starting with absolutely nothing. If I remember correctly, he is heavily invested in the muggle stock markets. When I met with him, he was rather hostile to me and blamed magic for everything that was wrong with his life."

"When McGonagall contacted me, she told me that a Malfoy had shown up on the Hogwarts muggleborn register. So I went to my brother that night and found her. Little Iona Malfoy. Her mother had died in childbirth, although that was probably from domestic abuse. I kept checking up on her every week under a disillusionment charm. I couldn't do anything until last night, when I saw him hitting her. All because she had transfigured one of her little wooden toys into a stuffed dog. I pulled him off of her and went to leave with her when he got a knife from the kitchen and tried to stab me."

Draco gestured to the healed knife wound. "I stunned him and called the aurors and came here straight after they were finished with us and then I called you."

Rose nodded tiredly and rubbed her face. That was exactly what she had expected. "Where is she now?"

"She's technically considered a muggleborn, so they had no choice but to take her to a muggle orphanage. But it's only temporary until a social worker is assigned to her."

"How soon can we adopt her?"

Draco smiled. "Immediately. The goblins can streamline everything for us. They'll even go above the muggles since we have such a strong familial claim."

Rose returned his smile and accepted the potions Kreacher was trying to give her. She handed them to the others. "Drink up. Now that we've taken care of that. There's something I want your help with, especially you, Andy. I've got something I need to do."

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Robes were very fitting for the image of the wizarding world in Rose's opinion. Something about them just screamed power and mystery. It didn't hurt that the wizarding robes were heavily enchanted for comfort and ease of use. Rose had noted a significant change from her school robes to the robes of an everyday witch or wizard. With her robes now, she never got caught on anything or got twisted up in anything. It seemed that any problems you might expect to have from something with so much fabric were nonissues.

Rose marveled at how advanced the wizarding world seemed to be, and yet other times, it seemed like it was so far behind, like many muggleborns had noted when they joined the wizarding world.

Rose loved how muggle clothes looked, but they didn't offer nearly the same level of comfort as robes, unless she enchanted them herself (which made her very happy to have a Charms mastery). When it came to business though, she preferred robes over business suits. They were more impressive, especially the set of robes she wore now.

It was a stroke of luck that Draco had called Rose at the perfect time for what she had planned with Andromeda this morning, but it also meant that Rose didn't have her trunk and by extension, her wardrobe. So Rose had done some digging and found some robes stashed away at the empty Potter Manor, including the dark emerald robes she had on now. With her hair held up in a tight bun that would make her old (and current) Transfiguration professor proud and her determined expression, Rose Potter was a very impressive looking witch.

So just hours after the end of the House Black Meeting, Rose Potter strode into the chamber of the British Wizengamot, ready to make some waves. The circular room was very similar to the courtroom she had sat in years ago, but instead of everyone facing one direction, the Wizengamot members were seated around the entirety of the room, so that they could see everyone else. At the center of the room, where a chair had been in the courtroom, the Wizengamot chamber was bare so that anyone that visited to speak could turn and face everyone as they so desired.

Rose walked directly into the center and waited to be introduced, although the muttering of the members and common sense plainly said it was unnecessary. Andromeda's confident smirk from the Potter seat was noted by many of the members. The Chief Wizengamot turned from where he was looking at the Potter proxy holder and cleared his voice to get everyone's attention.

"Next on the agenda, Lady Rose Potter-Black has asked for an audience of the Wizengamot. Lady Potter-Black, would you like to take your seats up here or stay on the floor?"

Rose thanked Merlin for her teaching days in the DA, because although she was slightly uneasy with speaking in front of this many people, she knew how to and could keep her composure.

"That will not be necessary. I trust Andromeda to handle my seats appropriately. I will remain here. And for simplicity, you may call me Lady Potter. "

"Very well, Lady Potter. You have the floor."

Rose turned around to sweep her eyes over the assembly.

"Witches and Wizards of the Wizengamot. At a late hour last night, I received word from my bed in Athens, Greece that the House of Black was in need of an emergency House meeting. I hurried back home to England so I could hold this meeting. You'll hear about the contents of this meeting at a later point, but the specifics are not what I wish to speak of today."

"The meeting ended early this morning, so neither I nor Andromeda have had much sleep. Also, if you recall, historically the House of Black has held contradictory views to what we hold today, so over the course of the meeting, I was subject to the House's… displeasure. This is a common occurrence among our houses here in Britain. I am told houses generally meet once or twice a year for various reasons, but I must ask you, how many of you believe this system is necessary?"

Rose waited for the members to ponder her rhetorical question before she continued.

"Additionally, I wonder if this system is even effective at all. Would you believe me if I told you that through cunning and trickery, House Black accepted a Squib-born witch into the family last night?" Rose thought the widened eyes of several of the members were humorous.

"That is indeed what happened last night. The House was unable to discern the loopholes I had created within the bargains I had created to appease the House. So truly, nothing was accomplished by the House Magic. And that is how it should be. Should you have to argue with a dormant host of older generations about whether or not you have made the correct decision? Do you not see the situation much more clearly than the narrow minded Magicks? Why is your decision for your house questioned? Why are we letting others have a say in the future of our world?"

Muttering spread amongst the assembly as Rose ended her tirade. Rose looked at Andromeda, who was listening into many of the discussion and was pleased when she gave her Head a wink. It seemed the general consensus was with her.

"Lady Potter, a question."

Rose nodded and turned to face the interrupting member as the Chief Warlock announced him.

"Lady Potter cedes the floor to Lord Barlington for a question."

The older gentleman offered a smile to the whole floor before he spoke. "I have long believed the House system to be unnecessary, but I've never seen any possibility to change it. I'm assuming that you come before us with a solution. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are intrigued. May we hear your suggestion?"

Rose frowned for show, "Do you know who holds the information for the creation of Magicks such as the House Magic?" She asked the room in general. "Is it not situated in this very building? Beneath the everyday witch and wizard, lies the Department of Mysteries, where all of our research resides. Could we not go search for a solution there?"

"No. We cannot, can we? The Department of Mysteries is closed to all except the Unspeakables. Does anyone here know what they do on a daily basis? Is their research going in the direction that is helpful to us? Do they answer to anyone? These questions are difficult to answer, my fellow Lords and Ladies, because the Unspeakables are bound by oath to reveal nothing. The last discovery made in that department that was revealed to someone other than the Unspeakables was made by myself several years ago, during the war, when I discovered for myself that the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy are vulnerable to a simple reducto."

Rose spun around and faced the Lord that had posed the question. "My suggestion is not something you might think possible, yet I urge you to consider the possibilities before you dismiss it out of hand. For too long have we accepted the way things are and allowed ourselves to let others rule a part of our lives because it is too dangerous for us."

Rose turned and smiled at the Chief Warlock, "Dare I say it is for our Greater Good that we do not have this information?" She spat out sarcastically and enjoyed the visible recoil many of the members had at the reminder of Grindewald's old motto, the one Dumbledore had eventually renounced.

Rose threw out her hands and raised her voice, "My fellow Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, the time has come for us to control our own lives and push towards a better future, one where our choices are our own and we are not tortured for them! With your support, I propose we desensitize all information contained within and completely dissolve the Department of Mysteries!"

Rose didn't wait for the thunderous applause to end before she waved at the Wizengamot and strode purposefully out of the chambers. As Rose pushed past the few reporters that had shown up after hearing of her arrival, she pulled another Pepper Up potion out of her robes and downed it. Her day still wasn't over.

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After a visit to the Burrow to enlist Molly's help with toddler-proofing Grimmauld Place, Rose met with Draco at Gringotts and signed a plethora of forms for the adoption of Iona Malfoy (soon-to-be-Black).

After Gringotts, Rose went back to Grimmauld Place to sleep while Draco went with a Gringotts employee to collect his new daughter. Rose was just taking off her shoes when a patronus entered the room and the deep voice of the Minister punctured the silence of the house.

"Rose, I need you to come to my office please."

It was so very tempting to ignore Kingsley and just hop into the comfy bed, but she figured she should comply since she had just created a lot of work for him. Rose put her shoes back on and called for Kreacher to bring her another potion as she walked towards the fireplace.

Rose came out of the fireplace in the atrium of the Ministry to a large crowd of people all gathered in small groups and reading newspapers. She strode over to a stack of the papers and grabbed one as she tossed a galleon at the salesman. Rose opened the paper as people began to notice her and was unsurprised to see a Special Edition of the Daily Prophet discussing her speech to the Wizengamot, written by Rita Skeeter. However, she was surprised to see that it was written accurately and without Skeeter's normal slander. Rose just assumed that it was sensational enough.

Rose was still reading when the lift's door closed and began moving to the 1st subfloor, so she missed that everyone in the atrium had stopped reading to watch her.

Rose exited the lift and walked straight past the Minister's poor secretary (because who wants to stop Rose Potter from seeing the Minister?) and into the Minister's office while continuing to read the paper.

"POTTER!"

Startled, Rose dropped the paper to the ground and had her wand at the offending voice's throat before she realized what had happened. She caught herself right before she was able to let off a spell and let her mind catch up to her reflexes. Standing at the tip of her wand was an Unspeakable, clad in the department's iconic black robes complete with hood and charmed to allow no one to see their face. Behind the man were two other Unspeakables wearing identical robes. One had a wand out, but had pointed it at the same man Rose had pointed hers at.

And behind his desk, looking as annoyed as ever, was Kingsley. He hadn't even bothered to pull his wand.

"Lady Potter, please put your wand away. Granger, you too. Burke, for the love of Merlin, don't startle the bloody Defense Mistress unless your goal in life is to become a pile of dragon dung."

Rose dropped her wand back into her holster and turned away from Burke, who she recalled was the current head of the DoM according to Hermione.

"You asked for me, Minister?"

"Yes, Lady Potter. Head Unspeakable Burke would like to speak with you. He says it was very urgent and that I needed to summon you right away. Burke?" Kingsley asked politely.

Burke had managed to regain his composure and seemed to remember who he was speaking to.

"Lady Potter, please you must put a stop to this. There are things that the general public is not ready to understand. The Department of Mysteries has always been the keepers of forbidden knowledge that should never be released. We _must_ exist. You must ask the Wizengamot to overturn their decision."

Rose, as politely as she could, rolled her eyes.

"Burke, listen. I've had a long day, and I'm literally running on Pepper Up right now, so I'll keep this brief. I agree with you. And I don't. Yes, the general public probably doesn't need to have the research on things such as time travel, soul magic, the veil, and so forth. No, we do not need the Department of Mysteries to keep that information from them. Let's slap a sign on that stuff that says Forbidden and put it under lock and key and only get the key out if we need it. We don't need people researching it because if we don't want the public to touch that stuff, then we shouldn't touch it either. It's too tempting."

"But the other stuff? Our notes on House Magic, the Hall of Prophecy, our magical research that is supposed to be happening down there? We need that. We can't move forward without it. We'll stay stuck right where we're at and never improve ourselves. We can't keep those things down there when they are needed up here. Do you understand?"

"But… But…"

"Are you worried about your job? I'm sure Kingsley's not just going to throw you to the street because your department gets shut down. Heck, if you're the sitting head of the DoM when it shuts down, I'm sure you'll be the first name on the list for any departments that might be opening up to replace it, right? It's already happened, Burke. The Wizengamot has voted and the Department of Mysteries will close. Now, we all need is to roll with it and make everything a success. Let's make this a positive, okay?"

Rose imagined Burke looked lost under his hood. He looked over to his colleagues for support.

"Croaker, Granger. Back me up."

Croaker just waved him off. "I'm okay with it. Lady Potter seems to have dispelled any fears I had about it. As long as I can continue my research, I don't care where I do it, or under what name, or if the public sees it or not. Just so long as the truly evil stuff stays where she suggested, under lock and key."

Hermione nodded. "I agree with Lady Potter too. And I think this might help us weed out the ones in the department who don't do any work. We don't have any real oversight in there."

Burke jumped up. "Granger! Don't speak of the department that way in front of others. I know it's possible that there are some less motivated people, but the departments workings aren't to be discussed."

Hermione just shrugged it off. "I'm not breaking my oaths or anything. But my loyalty will always be to Lady Potter first." Rose smiled at that and could have melted steel with the intensity at which she did. "I've stayed with the Ministry because I didn't know of what other opportunities there were. But if we go public with research, I can think of many different possibilities for progress and personally, I don't think I would have any trouble finding satisfying work."

"And honestly," Kingsley interjected, "this might be an opportunity for us to expand our research division. We might be able to bring in more researchers. Give new jobs. All positive things. You need to look at the positives, Burke."

Burke looked at everyone in the office, the hood giving no indication to his mood or thoughts. A sigh escaped him. "I guess I won't be persuading anyone, will I? Very well, Lady Potter. I guess we shall be Unspeakables no more." Burke reached up and lowered his hood to reveal an older man with slightly greying brown hair.

Croaker lowered his hood too and Rose thought he had been in too many experimental accidents. His wrinkled face was marked with several scars that obviously couldn't be healed with magic and his white hair was patchy at best and a complete disaster at worst.

"Well, Croaker. Let's go do damage control in the department. Granger… Take the day off."

Rose watched with a raised eyebrow as the two swept out of the office before she turned back to the Minister with irritation written all over her face.

"Is that really all I was called for?"

Kingsley sighed and slumped into his chair. "Pretty much. Burke was adamant to see you. I'm not sure why."

Hermione spoke up. "He was certain Rose wouldn't have a response if he challenged her in person. He figured Rose was just being a figurehead for a proposal of Andromeda's. He was talking about it before we came up here."

Rose scowled. "That's ridiculous. I just told Andy what I wanted done and she told me how to get there. She even told me how to word it so the Wizengamot would see it as a complete positive."

Kingsley nodded. "And you did a good job. I would've expected you to antagonize or even challenge them. But you put them on your side from the start and kept them there. Even the more… biased Lords were praising your idea."

Hermione strolled over to Rose and gave her a playful shove. "Although it would have been nice to have a little warning. I do work there, you know."

"Speaking of which," Kingsley interjected, "how are you getting around the Unspeakable Oaths? I know there supposed to keep you from speaking about _anything_ that goes on down there. Even the little things."

"I've been wondering that too. You tell me little things about your work all the time. I shouldn't be able to know anything about it. What has that brilliant mind of yours done this time?"

Hermione only blushed a little at Rose's praise. "Well, the first thing I did when I went to the DoM was to research how that Death Eater, Rookwood was able to give Voldemort information about the Department. Well, the oath is phrased so that we can't betray the information, but if our loyalty was to someone else over the department, it's not technically a betrayal. Heck, if Rose hadn't re-asked your question, Kingsley, I wouldn't have been able to answer you. But since she holds my loyalty, I can tell her whatever she asks for."

Rose was amazed. "That's brilliant! A use of logic to outsmart an oath. How in the hell did Rookwood manage that though?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Rose. The man was an idiot. He probably just figured that his Dark Mark let him overcome the oath."

"Well, what about the House Magic? Can we do anything about that yet?"

Hermione's eyebrows narrowed in frustration. "No. Not yet. I've been looking at it, but I want to get Draco's opinion on it once everything gets de-classified. He's a good sounding board. I might talk to Ron about it also. He occasionally catches simple things that I overlook."

Rose yawned. "Speaking of Draco, I should head home. He'll be home soon and I wanted to catch a few hours of sleep before he brought Iona, but I guess I'll just pop another one of these."

Rose pulled another Pepper Up out of her robes and had half of it downed when Hermione pulled it away from her.

"Hey! I was drinking that."

Rose's irritation turned to confusion at Hermione's worried face. "Rose, how many Pepper Up potions have you had this morning?"

At Rose's reply of eight, both Hermione and Kingsley groaned.

"I give her 30 seconds. I'll put 8 galleons on it."

Rose scowled at the Minister, but Hermione cut off any remark.

"It won't be that long, Kingsley. I'm going to borrow this."

Hermione picked up a large goblet that was displayed on a shelf and handed it to Rose, just in time for her to empty the contents of her stomach into it.

Rose looked horrible when she pulled herself from the goblet. "What the hell?" Rose asked weakly.

Hermione was very unimpressed. "You overdosed on Pepper Up. You're only supposed to have five in a day at most. Six if they're made by a competent potions maker like Draco. You have had eight, so I'm going to help you purge the rest of your stomach, and then you'll be in bed until tomorrow afternoon, I assume. Afterwards, you'll be exhausted for the better part of a week while your magic fights off the overdose."

Rose's eyes widened at the implications. "But Iona and Draco. They'll need me."

"I'm sure Draco can hold himself together for a few days while you recuperate. He will have to once you head back to Greece, after all."

"Why would I go back now?"

Hermione would have responded, but Rose looked ready to pass out, so she settled on sighing.

"We'll talk about this later, Rose. Stay awake for a bit so I can get you home."

"You can use my personal floo." Kingsley interjected. "And good luck."

Both girls said their thanks as they went through the fire, although Kingsley was only wishing Hermione luck. The girl would certainly need it.

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**Summer 2002**

**Russia**

It had been a long time since dead people made him queasy. It was just part of the job. If you shot enough people, you would eventually learn to deal with death. So the bodies lying on the ground did not bother him one bit.

But there sure were a lot of them.

It didn't deter Clint Barton though. He had a mission to complete and he would see it through. He continued through the compound as silently as he could, stopping every so often to listen around him.

Solo missions were dangerous. More often than not, solo missions involved deep undercover spying operations, covert infiltrations, and other stealth based ops. They weren't Clint's specialty, but he could handle them fairly well. He did work for SHIELD after all. However, today was an exception to that rule. This was an assassination.

SHIELD did a few assassinations a year: mutants gone crazy, geniuses gone mad or in this case,

a rival agent gone rogue.

Rival agents were easy. They had a motivation. They had loyalty. They had morals (some less than others, but still there).

Rogue agents were a whole different game. They were dangerous in their unpredictability, but they were generally handled very quickly by their own organization. SHIELD had its own short history with rogue agents and they were put down quickly and efficiently, or so Barton was told.

But this was a special case in that the agency in question had _not_ handled their own rogue. In fact, the agency was almost completely destroyed by now. And that made SHIELD _very_ antsy, as they didn't know what she would do next.

Would she move on to another agency and eliminate them? Would she move into the civilian population and start killing? Was she mentally stable?

These were questions SHIELD couldn't wait to be answered, so they ordered the assassination of former KGB agent Natalia Romanova, and sent their ace agent after her.

And so here Clint was, following the body trail left by Romanova, bow in hand and quiver on back. It wasn't long before he heard noise in a room up ahead and headed towards it. He peeked into the large double doors and saw a large warehouse-style room that was most likely a storage area for the compound. Large racks lined the walls and boxes filled the floor in the middle. On the opposite end of the room was his target, along with another man tied to a chair.

Clint only spared them a glance before he sprang into action. He snuck quickly into the room, thankful for the faulty light fixtures, and quickly climbed one of the racks to get a bird's eye view. He was in no hurry to take the shot, though. He held no love for the poor bastard in the chair. He might as well let the poor girl have her victory. Barton pulled his bow and nocked an arrow, ready to pull the string and fire in a split second.

Clint Barton waited. And he watched.

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

This was so very sweet. This man was meant to be her first target. He really was. But he was a slippery man and she had to bide her time, settling for lesser targets like KGB directors and senior agents. It was certainly worth it though. For this man to be the last member of the KGB that she killed. After spending months of killing members from inside the agency and a few killing them from outside after she was discovered, Natalia was finally ready to end it all and deliver on her promise. A promise she made to a dead friend. Her only friend.

"_Are you unwell, Director?"_

The man breathed heavily from his chair. _"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not a director of anything. I'm just an agent. I just take orders."_

Natalia gripped the knife buried in the man's thigh and twisted it slowly and savored his screams. He had only recently begun screaming. It had only taken an hour for him to break.

"_Oh come now. Of course you're the Director. Do you know why you are the Director?" _She applied some pressure to the knife. The man frantically shook his head.

"_No. Please stop! I'm begging you to stop! I don't know!"_

Natalia let go of the knife and grabbed the man's chin and forced him to look at her.

"_You're the Director because there is no one else. You are the last living member of the KGB, Ilyich. You should be proud to have risen through the ranks so quickly. So tell me. How does it feel?"_

Natalia finished speaking with her sickly sweat voice and violently moved the knife sideways as if it were a lever. It slid out easily and fell to the floor, but not before it pulled on his muscle and caused him to scream once more.

Natalia waited for him to stop and was disgusted to find him sobbing.

"_W… why are you doing this? You didn't torture any of the other agents. Or the directors. Why me?"_

Natalia was furious. How dare he cry? He didn't deserve to cry. She punched him. Hard.

"_Why you?! I'll tell you why, you bastard! I'll tell you the same damn thing you told me!"_

She grabbed the power screwdriver that was nearby and drilled another large screw through his left palm and into the wooden chair arm. That made three screws in that palm and two nails in his other. With those and the chains, he was going nowhere.

"_Do you remember what you said Illyich? I remember very clearly."_

Natalia's voice was cold and detached as she recited, _"Oh, yes…. We made the beautiful girl scream. You see, we don't like when people take our stuff. People that take our stuff get dead. But this hid one of our things from us for quite a while. She was fun to play with. Right up until that last breath. I'd let you go to the funeral, but I don't think it'd be an open casket, not that you'd recognize her anyway."_

The tortured agent was frantically trying to plead with her.

"_I SWEAR! I SWEAR I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"_

His ignorance only fueled Natalia's anger, but she didn't raise her voice.

"_How dare you forget her? How dare you forget that beautiful caring woman?"_

Natalia pulled her pistol out from her thigh holster and aimed it straight at the man's forehead.

"_No… Please don't do this… I beg you…"_

She ignored him.

"_I'd ask you to pass on a message to her for me, but I'm afraid you're going to a different place than her. I imagine one day, I'll be there with you. I hope we can have more fun when I get there. If I can't be with her, at least I'll have that. Goodbye, Illyich."_

"_No no no… I'll do anything. Just don…"_

A single gunshot and Illyich was dead. Natalia felt empty. Unsatisfied. She lowered the gun to his torso and fired again. And again. And again until the pistol clicked empty. She tossed the pistol to the side and let it slide across the ground.

Natalia pulled her eyes away from the body and walked over to nearby box and sat on the ground against it. She closed her eyes and focused on Rose. Beautiful, wonderful, caring Rose. Tears started flowing down her face as she cried for the first time in years, since she was told of Rose's death.

Uncharacteristically of Natalia, she started talking out loud and voicing her inner thoughts, slipping into Rose's native language as she did so.

"I did it. Are… Are you proud of me? I got them. I got the bastards who killed you. Every last one of them. Please be proud of me."

The tears got heavier as she continued,

"Who am I kidding? You wouldn't have wanted this. You wouldn't have wanted any of this. You weren't like that."

"What would you have done? You would have moved on, wouldn't you? And carried the burden in your heart. I couldn't do that. I needed to do this. I'm not strong like you. I couldn't have moved on without this."

"I bet you would be married by now. Probably to Girgori, the lucky guy. Where would you live? Here or back home? Two point five kids and a white picket fence? Or did you even want that? You told me so much about yourself, but we had so little time together. So little time."

"But I got my revenge. I did it my way. Not yours. And maybe if we're lucky I'll see you again someday."

Natalia's eyes popped open and she rubbed her eyes as she heard a noise, a very faint noise. She turned her head slowly and saw something she didn't know how she felt about. A man, American by the looks of it, was sitting in the racks and had a bow pointed at her. She could move. It wouldn't be too terribly hard, but why should she?

Natalia Romanova closed her eyes and waited.

"At least I got them. For you. "

….

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise! My job's almost done for me!"

Again, Natalia popped her eyes open and looked for the dramatic voice, which was certainly not coming from the American. Standing at the door in his ridiculous outfit was none other than the other person who was killing KGB agents. Deadpool.

Natalia jumped up from the floor and grabbed Illyich's pistol from where she had placed it after she had torn it from him. She was most certainly NOT going to let Deadpool kill her. It was one thing to be killed by an agent. But Deadpool? She certainly didn't want to end up like the people he killed. And maybe she could get that American out of here too. Rose would like that.

"What do you want, Deadpool? I've got the last of them. There's no more. Leave."

Deadpool looked affronted, but she knew it was all one big act for him. A joke.

"Darling, what are you talking about? How do you know what I'm here for? I could be coming along to redecorate the place. Or fix the plumbing. I do take various jobs, you know?"

Natalia narrowed her eyes.

"This isn't a game, Deadpool. I know you were after the KGB, just like me. But they're dead. I just killed the last one."

Deadpool smirked. "Oh, no darling. There's still one more. I'm here for the spider problem."

Deadpool pulled his pistol quickly but didn't get a single shot off before an arrow was lodged in his neck. He stumbled slightly and turned towards the American, pulling out the arrow as he did.

"Hawkie, what a surprise! I've always been a big fan. But I'm kinda busy here."

Deadpool fired his pistol at the American and Natalia shot at Deadpool as the American took cover. She had to jump out of the way quickly as Deadpool unsheathed one of his swords and threw it at her, missing and stabbing straight into Illyich's throat.

"Aww. That's disrespectful. You should've stopped the sword yourself. I mean, come on. He's already dead. Woah! Hawkie, your aim is a little off."

Deadpool exclaimed this as an arrow flew by his head. He pulled his gun up to fire again when a creak behind him made him turn around, just as the opposing rack fell on him and buried him under its contents.

As soon as he had fired the disintegrating arrow that would destabilize the rack, the American had taken off running and jumped along several boxes until he reached ground level and ran towards Natalia. She didn't flinch as he approached, and kept her gun pointed at Deadpool's buried location, but she was surprised when he grabbed her arm and started pulling on her.

"Come on. Let's go. He'll get out of that thing eventually. We can't kill him."

Despite being prepared to die at this agent's hands, Natalia nodded and ran out of the back entrance with the agent. She watched as he called for his extraction and was slightly surprised at how quickly the helicopter showed up. Although by guns pointed at her, she supposed they were his backup if things went wrong.

A man not in combat fatigues stepped forward when the man Deadpool called "Hawkie" stepped in between her and the agents' guns.

"Agent Barton (ah, so that's his name), care to explain yourself."

"Uh. Can this wait? We kinda left Deadpool lying under some boxes and I'd feel more comfortable doing this anywhere else. She's coming with us."

Barton moved forward and whispered something in the man's ear and seemed to convince him. Slightly. Very slightly. He waved the other agents down and stepped up to Natalia.

"Ms Romanova, I'm Agent Coulson of SHIELD. We'd like for you to come with us. But can I have that handgun, please."

Natalia carefully handed Coulson the pistol and stepped forward to get on the helicopter when he gestured her towards it.

"Agent Barton, I hope you know what you're doing, but until we get to base, Ms Romanova is your responsibility, do you understand?" Coulson called out loudly over the noise of the helicopter.

Barton nodded and signaled for Natalia to take a seat next to him. When she had, he leaned over to her and spoke loud enough to where only she could hear him.

"As far as I'm concerned, the specifics of what happened in there can stay between you and me. Alright?"

Natalia looked Barton in the eyes and saw something she hadn't seen in a long time. Compassion. She refused to let anyone get as close to her as Rose had, but Barton was giving her a second chance, it seemed. She realized he could be leading her into a trap, but her instincts told her otherwise. Maybe she could do something She would be proud of.

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

Deadpool pushed himself out from under the last box and sighed as his bones cracked back into place and his flesh knit itself back together. He looked around hopefully and smiled under his mask when his favorite Being came into view.

Death materialized in front of Deadpool in her favorite form, the one she had decided she would keep as her Mistress seemed to like it most, with its purple hair and eyes. She sighed as she looked at the mercenary.

"Wilson, what on Earth have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Deadpool stood up off the ground and pulled off his mask, showing his disfigured face. Death did not flinch, for Death did not care. And for that, Deadpool loved Death, even if she did not return his affections.

"Well, hello beautiful. I'm just working to show off how much I love you."

Death looked over at the tortured and dead KGB agent. "What do you mean? That doesn't look like your normal work."

"Well, no. That's not my kill. Mine actually got away. But don't worry. I'll track her down eventually. She's the last KGB agent and all. After this, is there anything I can do for you, my love?"

Death stopped for a moment. Despite her timelessness, she was actually touched. Thanos tried to gain her favor by killing planets mercilessly and slaughtering indiscriminately. Here, Deadpool actually seemed to care for what she wanted. Even though she didn't even like him, it was still sweet.

And curse her Mistress for influencing her (for Death watched over her Mistress and wished to please her), but she wanted him to know how much that meant to her.

She brought a pale hand up to Deadpool's cheek and held him. "Wade, it was sweet of you to listen to what I wanted. I truly do appreciate it. Forget the last agent. My Mistress is safe now and you have made me very happy."

"Hey, you called me Wade!"

Death shot a soft glare at him and he tried to back up. "I mean that's great. I like it. You can call me whatever you want. Are you sure you don't want me to take out the last agent? It wouldn't be any trouble."

Death smiled at him. "No, Wade. Leave her be. Just do as you please. I'm very thankful for what you've done for my Mistress and me. I must leave you now, Wade. Take care of yourself. I know you like to see me, but I know coming this close to me causes you pain. Maybe one day, I'll be able to take that pain away."

Death reached up and put her hand behind Deadpool's head. She pulled Deadpool down to her and placed a soft kiss on his scarred temple. She pulled away and vanished from sight.

Deadpool couldn't keep the goofy smile off this face as he put his mask back on and retrieved his weapons.

"Alright. I think it's time for a vacation. I wonder how Cancun is doing this time of the year. I've been in Russia far too long. I need less bears and more beach! Who knows? Maybe I'll drown and see Death in a swimsuit. Now that's a thought!"

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

**One Month Later**

An average size, yet oddly comfortable bed. A dresser. A desk. And room. She actually had room. She looked around her new room in silent and outwardly emotionless wonder.

"Nat? Can I come in?"

"Yeah, come on in Clint."

Her door opened and Clint walked in. "How is it? I know it's not much, but it's better than that piece of shit cell they had you in. It's about time they moved you. Eventually they'll let you off the leash and you can get your own place."

She smiled at him. "It's great, really. It's more room than I've ever had, truthfully. And I'm in no hurry to leave. I've got to prove myself around here. Really, I'm happy."

Anyone would be happy to be doing something other than training with Clint and talking to God knows how many psychiatrists and agents.

"Well, have you decided how you're going to decorate? I can see about getting you a tv or something. You'll probably get a laptop soon. SHIELD's got some pretty good tech. Is there anything you want me to pick up for you?"

She shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine. Thank you, Clint."

"Alright, then. I'll see you tomorrow then. Oh, and they wanted me to give you this."

He handed her a SHIELD badge and she read it.

Natasha Romanoff

Agent

The name she had requested. The one she had given Rose when she had first met her, before she had told Rose her real name. That's who she was.

She called out to Clint as he was about to shut her door behind him.

"Hey, Clint?"

He poked his head back in. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Can you pick me up a small vase and a plastic rose please? I'd want a real one, but I don't want it to die when I'm not here."

"Sure thing, Natasha. First thing tomorrow. See ya."

The next morning she would place that rose on her desk. If she moved, she would take it with her. It would be her only prized possession. A single Rose. That would never die.

**A/N: Seriously, I'm super sorry about the wait. If you want to hear my excuse (pathetic as it is), it's the next paragraph. Everything after that is fairly important stuff if you care about plot holes, interesting tidbits about the story and things I'm planning/contemplating for the story.**

**Alright first, I had some writer's block on starting this chapter. Nothing major, just some brain farts that lasted a few weeks. Then I wrote about a quarter of it. Then it happened again. The damn House Magic bit was painful to write. After that, I wanted to wait for Avengers 2 to come out so I could adjust my story if need be (and I did, so very much. see below). After that, I worked out the changes in my head and was able to write the rest with very short writer's block bits. Now, excuse time over. Pathetic, right? This is not acceptable. But it happened and I'm sorry. **

…

**Rant time:**

**Avengers 2: (SPOILERS) I liked it, but it made my brain go crazy for how I wanted to tie it into this story. I had to rethink certain things. I'm sure you'll like it. Or you'll hate me. Either way, my job is accomplished. *insert evil laugh***

**Plot Holes: Alright, I am very aware that I am shredding apart storylines and tearing apart the fabric of reality as it stands. I am very aware of the fact that the KGB was dissolved in 1991 in real life. I changed that. Why? It was fun. I try not to do it too often, but sometimes it just makes too much sense to completely change something than to find some convoluted way that things are different. I want Natasha to be younger than Rose instead of being from the 40's, so I made her younger than Rose. For that to happen, she had to be going through her training with someone, and why make something up/change how a real life organization acts when I can just change the KGB's fate? Now instead of dissolving, they're dead. Someone tell Russia they need a new intelligence office. If you have questions about something I tore apart, ask me in reviews or a PM. I'll answer it, I swear. (Unless you review as a guest. Then I still love you, but I won't answer it)**

**By the way, I finished the end before I finished the bit in the middle. I got to the part in Kingsley's office and got bored. So I wrote something else and came back. **

**And chapter 7 was supposed to be in chapter 6, but this was already long, so it got split up. The ICW is next. I've also got an Omake written already for chapter 7. Non Avengers related, but it is Marvel Universe. Can you guess what it is? I doubt it. **

**I hated writing the House Magic bit. But damn, was it necessary. That kind of backwards bullshit that just fits with the old-fashioned ways of the pureblood culture is just what Rose needed to send her in a direction. And I got to give her a little person. That's always fun. But Draco will raise her for the most part, so don't be surprised about that. Rose will be a little busy. You think that's being a shitty parent? You might be right. No one's perfect, and Rose was an abused orphan. She'll do her best. **

**I hope the whole Wizengamot and politics thing didn't seem forced. But I really didn't want to take that in too much detail. That would be boring. I want you to know what's happening and how, but I don't want to drag on about the details. As long as you know what's happening and have an idea of how, I'm cool. **

**I hope you liked the re-inclusion of Deadpool and Death. Death will be a fairly consistent character in this story, and I'm going to continue to call the cosmic entity 'her' and 'she' since that's what form she'll be taking. (See the last chapter for that description and remember it!) Deadpool, we probably won't see again. Unless something weird pops up in my head and he fits. And no, Deadpool/Death is not a thing. She really thinks he's weird. But he's sweet to her. Don't you agree? No? Okay. Just me, then. I'm sick and twisted like that. **

**My brother is beta-ing for me right now. He brought up a few things. If you don't know, Pepper Up Potion is used as a quick boost of energy or to cure common ailments like a cold. And yes, the chapter feels longer than it is, but as he points out, with the direction I want to go, it is bloody necessary. **

**Alright, this is a long AN. Love you. BYE! **


	7. Extra: Tales From a Tonks

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews. The longer ones or the ones with questions will get responses. I love communicating with you people.**

**I own none of this. **

**This is just a little tidbit I wrote after a reviewer made a very good point, about how everything involving the Wizengamot bit seemed to go too smoothly. You won't miss anything if you skip this, but I still hope you will read and enjoy. **

**Extras: **

**Tales from a Tonks**

_Let's see. If Draco is my nephew through my sister, then Iona would be my grand-niece. Or if Rose is my Great-Aunt Dorea's granddaughter, that would make Rose my second cousin, I believe. So on that side, Iona would be my second cousin, once removed? What would that make Iona to Teddy? They're god siblings through Rose, but through blood they would be... Oh, Merlin. I'm going to need a quill to figure that one out._

Andromeda Tonks would never allow herself to be caught daydreaming (or much worse, doodling her family tree) in the Wizengamot chambers, whether it was the main chamber or the offices and conference rooms that were available to them. However, that didn't mean she was immune to the boredom of committee meetings.

Only one day after her Head of House had shaken up the Wizengamot, Andromeda was sitting in one of those meetings, listening to Head Unspeakable Burke speak about the many different things they would need to do before the Department of Mysteries would close.

One of Andromeda's many talents was the ability to listen intently and let her mind wander at the same time, and she employed this talent very often. It was especially useful when people tried to slip things past them all while they were meeting-weary, like now.

"Excuse me, Burke, but I'm afraid you've lost me. I'm not sure why the locking of the Veil Room would take two weeks. Without that, I'm sure we could get the Department closed down within a month, so long as the other committee can get our new research department up in that time. What is the long time estimate for?" Andromeda asked with a smile as she lamented the fact that she was also on that other committee.

_Burke really has no talent for politics. He should have kept his hood on._ She thought as the Unspeakable got visibly nervous and began to sweat.

"Ah, yes. That's a rather delicate issue, Madame. See, we have to be extra sure the doors are warded extra-tight so we don't have any more children accidently breaking in."

_Ooh. Well done bringing that up, Burke. That's a double-edged sword. It hurts me since my votes come from one of those children, but it hurts too you since it happened on your watch as department head. _

"Well, if that's your only concern, I'm sure I could convince the Minister Shacklebolt to let us borrow an auror or two to guard the doors while you work, or to test the wards even. I'm sure Auror Weasley would love another shot at it."

_Ahh, politics is so easy when I can name drop people like this. It's almost too simple. Wow. He really has not backup plan, does he. Maybe if he was just a little better at this, the Department of Mysteries might have stood a chance at survival._

"Ah, well. Yes. That would be very helpful if you could convince the Minister of the need. That'll put us optimistically at just about 33 days before we can close up down there. I believe we've accomplished all that we can today. Shall we meet again next Friday?"

"It won't be necessary to wait that long, Burke. Everyone on this committee, save yourself, was chosen because they have no day jobs and can easily meet as often as necessary. I say we meet next Monday, so we can at least hear if Madame Tonks has gotten our auror guards. It will be a moot point to hurry if she cannot, after all."

Andy was mildly surprised that she hadn't needed to cut down on Burke's improvised stalling tactic, as another committee member, Lord Phillips had spoken up, especially since she thought Phillips was against this whole idea. The unfriendly smirk sent from the blonde Lord in her direction answered all of her questions, and also made her internally groan.

_Oh, Merlin. Could you have a lousier mask? Why not just give me an entire presentation about your plan, with bullet points? Do you honestly think I can't convince Kingsley to spare a few aurors just because you took four days away from me? At least you're marginally better than Burke at this. Poor Burke. Look how confused he is. He thinks his ally has betrayed him. _

"I… I guess that will work. All right. We'll meet again at 8 A.M. next Monday. See you then, folks."

_Thank Merlin. I'm starving. I've got an hour before my next meeting. Maybe I can work out our crazy family tree now._

"Madame Tonks. Might I have a moment of your time?"

_Or maybe it will be a working lunch. This should be fun. Let's see how the little one wants to play._

"Of course, Lord Phillips. I am wondering if you would like to speak over lunch. The elves in the Ministry cafeteria make a wonderful roast lamb that is calling to me right now."

"That would be lovely, Madame. I've heard that the food here is adequate."

_Ah, yes. Because you wouldn't be caught dead eating perfectly good food with the lowly Ministry workers. Please, go right ahead and spend all your money on food of the same quality elsewhere. As if elves could cook anything but wonderful. _Andromeda thought as she and Phillips made their way to the lifts, where she saw an opportunity to take another shot at the snobbish Lord.

"Ah, Auror Weasley. How are you, today? Lord Phillips and I are heading towards the cafeteria for lunch, but I'm sure we wouldn't mind some company."

"I wish I could, Andromeda. But I'm heading up to Minister Shacklebolt's office to give him my report on the death toll by House Magic over the last century. It's not the prettiest report and the Minister wanted it ASAP." Andromeda could easily tell that Ronald Weasley was masking his distaste of the older Lord she was with, and she was mentally cheering for the young auror. He was better than half the idiots in the Wizengamot.

_Oh, how he has grown from the lazy Gryff. I hope he doesn't get too serious like Moody was, or he'll never find someone special. Maybe he'll loosen up when the children are old enough to start flying, if Rose shares that fun. _

"Well, that's too bad. If you're heading that way, let Kingsley know I'll be dropping by after I finish eating to speak to him about something. I'll bring him his favorite, since he's so busy these days. Well, this is our stop. Make sure you drop by Grimmauld, Ronald. Rose will want to introduce you to Iona, I'm sure."

_Bloody Hell. I'm on a roll today. _Andromeda thought as they said their goodbyes and the two Wizengamot members exited the lift. _I just used Kingsley's first name, insinuated I knew his favorite meal (fish and chips, not very fancy, Kings), let Phillips know I could set up meetings with the Minster without needing his approval and that I will be speaking to Kingsley about the aurors. _

Soon enough, the two were at the cafeteria and had taken seats at a small table. An elf popped next to them.

"Can Mipsy serve you?"

"I'll have the lamb, please Mipsy. Lord Phillips, would you like anything? It's my treat."

"I'll have the same. Thank you, Madame. But it's not necessary." Phillips said politely, although Andy could tell it was taking all of his willpower to speak that way to both her and the elf.

"If you insist, milord." Andromeda replied as Mipsy popped away to get their food. "What did you want to speak of, Lord Phillips?"

_And once again, you show your ineptitude at politics by so visibly changing gears. Make it a smooth transition, as if you were merely speaking about the weather._

"Madame, I was wondering why we are so insistent that the Department of Mysteries closes now. We've had this system in place for centuries. Surely, we need not change it now if it has worked so well."

Andromeda smiled pleasantly as she took the first bite of the food Mipsy had just placed in front of her before she responded.

"Well, if you must know. The department hasn't exactly been very helpful to us. The DoM has been in place since 1672, and we haven't had any research actually come out of it since 1854. That's a lot of research that is missing, milord. I wonder what type of things they have to give us."

"Do you really think it will be worth it, though? To betray centuries of tradition for measly research?" Phillips beseeched.

"I do think it will be worth it. I just don't know what exactly we'll be getting. It's rather exciting, actually. They might have research on curing dragon pox, or on strengthening wards. They might even have something on, I don't know, increasing the effectiveness of certain fertilizer's on Herbology ingredients."

Andromeda mentally smirked as Phillips's eyes bulged greedily. _Oh, yes. I'm very aware that your fortune comes from your greenhouses. I know how everyone in the Wizengamot operates, fool._

"But, if that's not enough. This will give us an opportunity to start regulating the function of our research divisions so that we can get the most out of it. That kind of oversight will be very… profitable."

Andromeda enjoyed a few moments of blissful, idiotic-statement free silence as Phillips seemed to be deep inside what Andy assumed was his tiny mind before he visibly shook himself from his thoughts.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Madame. I'll leave you to enjoy your meal."

_Aww, don't leave now. It was so much fun to beat you at my own game. And you didn't even touch your food. _

"Of course, Lord Phillips. May you have a pleasant afternoon."

Andromeda watched as the man walked away before she called Mipsy back to collect his discarded food and to order Kingsley's food.

Ten minutes later, Andromeda Tonks walked into the Minister's office with food in hand.

"Andy! Is that for me? You're the best." Kingsley Shacklebolt said cheerfully as he was uncharacteristically happy to see the Potter/Black proxy holder. She was responsible for about half of his extra work, after all. But she brought food.

_Ah, Rose. Do you even understand how much control I have given you over this place? Might as well just put your name on the front of the building. _

"I'm afraid I can't stay long, Kingsley. I've got another meeting in 15 minutes. I need to talk to you about setting up a temporary auror guard at the Veil Room. It'll keep Burke from delaying the closure."

Kingsley just nodded with a mouthful of chips and motioned for Andy to elaborate.

_Yeah. This is your Ministry, Rose._

**A/N: For those of you that read and enjoyed this short extra, I'll give you a treat. I don't usually do this, but I promise you'll see a new chapter for Christmas. Cheers! **


	8. A Bunch of Pawns

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews. The longer ones or the ones with questions will get responses. I love communicating with you people.**

**I own none of this. **

**I'm taking ideas for Marvel characters that should make cameos or Omake ideas.**

**I'm really happy with the reviews I got last chapter. I went back and made some minor edits to chapter two. Nothing major, just housekeeping things. It's irritating how the Marvel Cinematic Universe and pretty much every other Marvel universe can't agree with Natasha's age. I was using the comics for a lot of my research, since there's only so much detail in the movies and writing needs more details than movies. So, I assumed (and that was my mistake) that Natasha was born in the 40's like the comics, but in the movies she was one year younger than my Natasha. So I fixed that back to match the movie canon and made her 13 when she met Rose. But you don't care about that, do you (does anyone even read these)? Let's get onto the chapter. **

**Hey, important question just in case I forget to ask in the end notes. How old do you reckon Clint's kids are? I couldn't find anything online about their ages. **

"_Another language"_

_Thoughts_

English

_~Parsel~_

**Chapter 6: A Bunch of Pawns**

**June 2002**

"Rose, you know this is _my _office, right?"

Rose looked up at her best friend, standing in front of her in the iconic robes of the Unspeakables, sans hood.

"You weren't using it." Rose returned to her reading. Hermione groaned. "Besides, you were the one that said to be here this bloody early."

"That's because you are supposed to be leaving."

Rose snapped her head up from a particularly difficult section of magical theory about _why_ electronics failed around magic. "Where am I going?"

Hermione looked at Rose in disbelief and deadpanned. "The ICW conference. It starts today."

Rose nodded decisively. "Right. I knew that."

The brunette in front of her rubbed her face tiredly. "Of course you did, Rose."

"You don't believe me?"

Hermione just stared at Rose. "Where's your portkey, then? Which country is it in? Who's upstairs waiting to take you?"

Rose pointed an accusing finger at her best friend. "It's your fault I don't know these things, 'Mione."

"How is it _my_ fault?!"

"You told me all those things during pudding last night. You know I can't focus on anything with Molly's treacle tart in front of me."

Hermione pointed to the door. "Out. You're late anyway. Grigori will fill you in on the way then. He's in the auror office with Ron."

Rose perked up at that and started throwing parchment into her bag. "Grigori's here? Why didn't you just say so?"

"Hold it. He is _not_ here so you two can beat up on each other. He's here to show you around the ICW. You are still recovering, Rose."

Rose pouted. "You're no fun, 'Mione. I'm perfectly fine." The witch pointedly ignored the fact that she still had small fits of nausea every few hours.

Hermione received a hug from Rose as she walked out of the door. "Oh, and Rose." She called before the witch had gone too far. "I packed this for you." She threw a small travel bag at Rose before she closed her office door.

Rose opened the bag and cursed. Inside were a couple of changes of clothes.

_Bloody witch knew I would forget._ Rose thought fondly as she traveled through the ministry to the auror office. She arrived several minutes later to see two of her other closest friends conversing at Ron's desk. Said auror noticed Rose's approach and called out before she reached them.

"Only you could forget something like this."

Rose punched him on the arm for the comment, before she turned to Grigori and scrutinized him up and down.

"Hmm… A little scrappy." She turned her head to Ron. "You sure you want him babysitting me? I bet he doesn't last 5 minutes."

Ron laughed heartily at the dig as the Battle Mage scoffed at Rose and replied with a light accent.

"If I recall the last time we went at it, you were the first to tap out because you were too exhausted to continue."

"You weren't the first that day, Grigori. I had been at it all day when it was your turn. I don't get worn out that easily." Rose shot back.

A snort from the side caught their attention and they turned to look at Ron, who had stopped laughing and was holding his hand over his mouth and had his eyes tightly shut. Rose was concerned for a second until she realized he was just holding back laughter. "Care to share what's so funny, Ronald?"

Ron took a second to calm himself down enough to speak. "Well, I was just thinking that Seamus would be in heaven right now."

"And why is that?" Rose asked, recalling the self-proclaimed Pervert of Gryffindor Tower.

Ron mimicked with a grin, "'Wouldn't last five minutes?' 'Last time we went at it?' 'You weren't the first that day?' Tell me Seamus wouldn't love that."

The red-head again broke into a laughing fit when Rose and Grigori both turned bright red at the insinuation. Rose quickly tried to steer the conversation away.

"Anyways… Since when do you speak English, Grigori? Translation charms never carry accents."

"Huh? Oh, I thought I would surprise you. It seemed like a good thing to pick up."

Rose looked thoughtful for a bit. "Hmm… I guess I have gotten pretty reliant on my translation charms. I wonder if I should learn any languages."

Grigori shook his head. "I doubt it would do you much good. I only did it because I had the free time. And because I have so many new English friends through you."

A frown played across Rose's face. "But why would it not be useful for me?"

"How many languages would you need to learn just to speak with your fellow Defense Masters?"

The witch cringed as she thought about it. "Yeah… Maybe I should just keep leaning on the charm. Maybe if I have time in a few years… So, are we leaving or what?"

The Battle Mage smirked as he held out the wrench that doubled as their portkey. Rose's last thought before leaving Britain was '_Where does the portkey office get all of this junk?'_

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

The pair appeared in a small side alley and Grigori hadn't taken two steps when he was pulled back in and slammed against the wall by Rose.

"What the hell, Rose?"

"Shh… The portkey must've been faulty. We've appeared in the muggle world."

Grigori relaxed and raised an eyebrow at the witch.

"And what's your point?"

Rose turned from where she was peeking out of the alley to look at Grigori with bewilderment.

"Grigori, both of us are wearing robes." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Grigori chuckled before walking past Rose out into the street.

"Grigori! Dammit Vorobev!" She rushed to keep up with him. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" She hissed at him.

Grigori looked infinitely amused. "Well, if you would look around you a little, you might notice some important details." He mentioned as he held his arm out for Rose to take so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd.

And it was very crowded, Rose realized as she took his arm and looked around. They were in some square that was nearly packed full of people. What made Rose confused was the varying states of dress for some of the people. Some were dressed like normal muggles, whereas others were wearing armor and others were wearing clothes that looked like they were from several centuries past. She looked over to the stalls and noticed they looked completely unlike anything she had seen it the modern muggle world. It looked like some sort of…

"Festival. It's a festival." Rose murmured in realization. She turned to Grigori. "Where are we exactly? Hermione never did tell me where we were going."

Grigori smiled in amusement but dutifully answered. "We are in the charming city of Prague. Capital city of the Czech Republic and home of the ICW headquarters. We are in the Old Town Square, where they occasionally hold festivals, as you guessed, celebrating the dark ages. It's the only time we can walk openly, so the ICW has always made it a point to have some sort of meeting during them. Otherwise, we would have either had to portkey directly into the ICW or wear muggle clothes and put our robes on later."

Rose frowned. "But why didn't we just portkey directly in anyway?"

Grigori's eyes lit up. "It's tradition for a new master to be introduced to the ICW by its main entrance. Typically the Master you were first apprenticed to would escort you, but since you didn't have a Master for Defense, they asked me to show you."

Rose nodded her understanding and let her attention waver to her surroundings. She took interest in the statue she could see at the middle of the Square. Grigori noticed her interest.

"That's the Jan Hus Memorial. He was famous in muggle history for standing up to the Catholic church and preaching about reformation in the church. What the muggles don't know however is that Hus was one of the last to defend the Wizarding World openly against the Church before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted. He was burned at the cross for trying to protect us, although the muggle records show that it was for heresy."

"That's horrible." Rose murmured interested, once again showing her ever growing desire to learn more about history as long as it involved war or conflict. "Is that why the ICW is in Prague?"

"A little." Grigori responded. "The ICW could have settled down anywhere after the Statute, but Prague was chosen for several reasons. Chief among them was its location, as it was at the time, centralized for the majority of the Wizarding World as well as being far from the Vatican. The Memorial was eventually put up and paid for by the ICW, to honor Hus, a muggle hero for the Wizarding World."

Rose figured there was more to that story, but it would have to wait for later as Grigori steered them into a restaurant called the Staromětská Restaurace. The foreign writing reminded Rose to place her translation charm, which she did so quickly and discreetly no one noticed. She even placed one on Grigori, who she was sure would have forgotten.

A waitress met them at the door. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes. We're here for the Wizarding Conference." Grigori stated confidently. The waitress smiled in amusement.

"Of course, sir. Your party has the back room as always."

She pointed them in the direction they were to go and left them. Rose was quick to ask questions as the pair walked to the back, sounding a bit like her best friend.

"Was that a muggle? Even with the festival, how come none of this seems fishy to them? How do they fit so many people back here? I know expansion charms can only do so much."

"Yes, that was a muggle. There is a wide area confundus charm on the restaurant and its immediate vicinity that dissuades questions. And you'll see." Grigori answered quickly as he pulled off his ring and it transformed into his mastery medallion. Rose followed his example with her hairclip.

The two Magi passed through the back door into a narrow passageway that forced them to walk single file. Grigori let Rose go first and told her to keep walking no matter what happened. Slightly suspicious, Rose nonetheless complied and started walking.

After a few seconds, Rose began to feel weird, as if the gravity of the room was shifting. It reminded her of the 3rd task of the Triwizard where she had encountered the charm that had flipped her perception to make her feel as if she were walking upside down. Except this time she could feel the ground below her feet slanting downward. As soon as the sensation began it ended, just as the passageway ended with a door.

Rose pushed the door open and saw what looked like the restaurant she had just left, except completely empty of any of its patrons or staff. Rose looked back at Grigori in confusion, but he just smiled and gestured to the front door. The young witch exited the restaurant and gasped. She was looking at an exact replica of the Square above, but it was on the ceiling hanging above the atrium of the ICW. And where was Rose?

Well, she was also on the ceiling of course.

Rose looked up (down?) and noticed the witches and wizards moving around below (above?) her. She took a few steps forward and had to stifle a scream when she started slowly descending to the floor. She heard Grigori call out to her from behind her.

"Make sure to flip over Rose, or you'll land on your head."

Quickly heeding his warning, Rose flipped her body over in midair as her body finally reached the ground and Rose placed her feet on the ground, stumbling slightly. Grigori was by her side quickly to catch her.

"So, how did you enjoy the entrance?" He asked cheekily.

Rose was too in awe of what she had just experienced to be upset with what was obviously a rite of passage among the Masters.

"That was so cool!" Rose exclaimed, smiling. "Not once did I feel like I was actually upside down, even though I knew I was! How did they do it?" She asked, eyes lighting up as she considered every spell she knew for possibilities.

"I'm afraid that the exact arithmancy behind it is rather lengthy." A voice behind them said. They turned and saw a familiar face approaching them. "It might take several days to read through it all and explaining how it works. Needless to say, it is the culmination of several Charms Masters over several years who worked on that." Her old Charms Master stated.

"Clarence!" Rose hugged the older man. "Were you waiting for us?" Rose asked as she couldn't think of another reason for him to be waiting in the atrium.

Clarence chuckled before answering. "Well, not exactly. I volunteered to be one of the many Charms Masters to provide translation charms to those who need them. But I will confess to volunteering so I could see your arrival. A slight disappointment, wouldn't you say Master Vorobev?"

"Oh yes. Didn't even lose her lunch or panic or anything." Grigori replied with a smile. "She stayed far too calm. So pitiful."

Rose faux-frowned as the two Masters shared a laugh. She didn't get a chance to reply as a young orderly came up to her.

"Excuse me, Mistress Potter. The other Defense Masters are awaiting your arrival."

Rose frowned as she vaguely recalled Master Lorenz mentioning a meeting that they had every time the ICW met. She looked over at Grigori, but Clarence made a shooing motion.

"Go on, I'll keep your chaperon company."

Rose nodded absentmindedly as she motioned for the orderly to lead her. He led her out of the large atrium, down one of the many hallways that extended from it until they reached a room. Walking through the door the orderly pushed open, Rose worried about what they would talk about. This was obviously a meeting of arguably the most powerful Magi on the planet.

"Rose! So glad you could make it." Master Richard Adams stood up from his seat at the circular table and came over to greet her. "I'm sure you know everyone." He gestured back to the table where there sat 15 Wizards from every corner of the globe. She had only met a handful in person, but she had spoken to all of them through her mirror to some degree. She was the only witch present, not from any sexist leanings, but from either pure chance or some other reasoning that caused no other witches to qualify at that time.

"Come. Sit down and we'll get started."

Rose took her own seat at the table as Richard returned to his. Richard spoke up first.

"Greetings, fellow Defense Masters. For the sake of our new addition, I'll explain a few things. This is an informal meeting amongst us all to discuss anything we feel must be brought to the attention of the others. There are no rules for the meeting except that someone needs to slap Nicholson on the back of the head to wake him up." Richard said with some humor in his voice.

One of the Masters seated two seats left of Rose leaned over and slapped the mentioned wizard, who looked older than Dumbledore ever did, on the back of the head causing him to startle awake and pull his wand faster than the untrained eye could see. As he was sitting next to Rose, it caused her to flick her wand into her hand, causing an uproar of laughter around the table, although Rose could tell all of them were a hair's breath away from pulling their own had the older man launched any reactionary spells.

Beside her, Nicholson sighed and put his wand away, mumbling about being 'too old for this shit.' Rose gawked at the older man in surprise, causing the laughter at the table to continue.

"Alright, alright." Richard said loudly to settle everyone down. "We haven't got all day. So first things first. Everyone please welcome Rose Potter. Already with two Dark Lords under her belt, Voldemort and Poletsmert." He said casually, causing the others to applaud politely and Rose to duck her head in embarrassment. "Also, Agustin defeated a Dark Lord since our last meeting as well. One Lord Lobisome.

A Spanish wizard at the table snorted. "Please. I'm ashamed to have fought him. He was hardly a Dark Lord at all. Just some werewolf Alpha that got a little uppity and dragged his pack along. Hardly worth a mention, Richard."

Richard shrugged. "Well, he technically classified as a Dark Lord, so you get the point in your direction."

Augustin just sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "That puppy was a humiliation to werewolves and Dark Lords everywhere." Chuckles were heard around the table and Rose felt herself smiling as well.

Richard smiled and brought his hands together. "Well, that's all I have. Does anyone else have something they wish to discuss?"

Silence reigned for several seconds before someone spoke.

"I have something I think we should talk about." The other American Master, Chase Thompson stated. The seriousness with which he said it caused them to all sit up straighter, but he also held a questioning tone in it. "I'm not certain why, but this worries me more than any Dark Lord I've faced before."

"Go on." Someone spoke. Rose didn't know who, she was too focused on Thompson.

The Master was hesitant at first. "I've been hearing of more and more… unrest in the Boston and D.C. areas, mainly focused around the muggleborn population."

Several of the Masters frowned, while the others kept their faces blank. "I'm not sure if it's a sign of a larger problem, but they're getting more organized and less… peaceful. It used to be loose protests, but it's started to turn into organized riots."

Rose spoke up. "Are you suggesting that they might be under some sort of forming leadership now?"

Another wizard spoke up. "That doesn't sound right. I've seen some of the same problem in some areas of Southeast Asia. There's no way someone could be overseeing all of that."

Master Peter Lorenz interrupted. "There's been more of the same in Germany and France as well. I was speaking with the French Minister the other day about it."

Rose jumped back in. "But what are they protesting about? You said they were muggleborns, right? Is it protests over blood supremists?"

Thompson nodded unsurely. "That seems to be the barebones behind the movement. They are claiming that the American Ministry is purposefully keeping muggleborns away from key positions."

Nicholson frowned. "That's preposterous. The reason that most muggleborns are kept from elected positions is because the majority of the Wizarding World is conservative, and their voting habits reflect thus. And then the elected leaders hire people who share their viewpoints, not out of spite, but because they don't believe in the same ideals as muggleborns. Muggleborns are generally very liberal compared to the average wizard, almost so that it would seem like radicalism."

Rose nodded in understanding as she thought about how her own friends used to fight about seemingly obvious ideals like House Elf slavery. Hermione had only backed off from freeing all of them when she realized how unrealistic it was and focused on giving them better rights instead. She was still unhappy with it, but moving to the moderate goal had helped. And the British still called it extreme.

Rose parroted her thinking with, "Some muggleborns still see us as backwards and outdated in comparison to muggles. They can't see beyond their own prejudice, so they claim that _we're_ prejudiced instead. I confess that I used to think the same, as a muggle-raised."

Richard nodded. "They look down on us because they think we look down on them."

Rose got them back on topic. "But… Reasoning aside, do you think they'll escalate in such a way that we'll need to get involved?"

All of the Masters frowned and retreated to their thoughts. Peter was the first to speak.

"If it is truly a global effort among muggleborns, then we may have trouble on our hands, as that is usually the environment that Dark Lords emerge from, otherwise I think our best plan of action is to wait and be extra vigilant." He received several hesitant nods in answer. "Excellent. Then for the time being, we'll close that topic and come back to it next time. Anyone else?"

Everyone remained silent this time, so Richard clapped his hands together and addressed everyone again.

"Alright then. I guess it's time to go get ready for the Conference then."

And just like that, they were done.

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

After the meeting, Peter walked her back to the atrium so he could speak with Rose for a few moments to impart a warning.

"You should be careful when speaking to others here, Rose. Many people travel to the ICW searching for favors from Masters. Defense Masters usually have it worst because there are so few of us."

"So, you don't want me to do any favors for people?" Rose asked, frowning.

Peter shook his head as they entered the entrance hall. "Not at all. Indeed, the majority of us have no issue doing favors for people, whether for compensation, having a favor owed in return or just out of the goodness of our hearts. What I'm saying, is that you need to be prepared to say no to many of those who walk up to you. If you don't, you will find yourself overwhelmed. My personal rule is to not get involved in anything that could be handled by the local auror office. After those criteria, it's just a question of personal judgement."

Peter walked away after bidding Rose farewell. She continued back to where she had left Grigori and Clarence and frowned as Grigori looked extremely irritated and seemed ready to pull his wand on a smirking Clarence.

"What are you two doing?" She asked as she approached them and crossed her arms over her chest. She did enjoy the sight of Grigori jumping in surprise, although he schooled himself far too quickly for her amusement.

Clarence however just turned around slowly and smiled at Rose. "Oh, we were just discussing young Master Vorobev's romantic interests."

Rose raised an eyebrow. _They were just talking about girls? _She looked questioningly at Grigori, who was quick to change the subject. "So how was your meeting?"

The witch just rolled with the subject change and shrugged. "It was fine. We didn't talk about anything of consequence." Both wizards in front of her wondered what the Defense Masters might consider 'of consequence' and what they spoke of behind closed doors that the rest of the Wizarding World might consider important.

"Anyway, what's next Grigori?" Rose asked. She scowled when said Battle Master shrugged.

Clarence answered in his stead, "You should have plenty of time to mingle with some people here in the atrium before the Conference Meeting begins. Grigori, why don't you go introduce her to some people? And Rose, don't forget to display your medallions."

Clarence turned and walked back over to where witches and wizards were still arriving and in need of a translation charm.

"Grigori, why did he say to display my medallions?" She asked as she pulled out her defense medallion that she had pocketed.

"Ah, yes," Grigori said as he started fishing around his robe pockets, "It's tradition to wear your medallions on display in their base form so everyone can know by glance what you are a Master of. Not to mention it separates you from the people who aren't Masters that are hunting for favors."

As Grigori finished explaining, he pulled a plain necklace out of his pocket, "Here, I bought this for you since you have two different medallions."

Rose gave Grigori a fond smile for his thoughtfulness as she put the necklace on and attached her medallions onto it, thinking not for the first time about how cool enchanted jewelry was.

"So," she started, looking at Grigori, "where to first?"

RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA-RPA

Grigori proved very useful to have as a guide, as he led Rose through the atrium of the ICW, pointing people out and giving her a quick synopsis of them. Occasionally, he would see someone that Rose would get along well with and took her over to make the introductions. Rose was quick to accept his expertise, especially after the first time she expressed interest in meeting someone. Grigori took one look at the person she had pointed out and gave her one very good reason to let Grigori take the lead in introductions.

"Blood Supremist."

Other than that, Rose found herself having a great time. Peter's prediction about having a lot of people come ask for favors came true, and Rose had to test her weak ability to say no to several people, but she found she really didn't mind it. Several people came asking for advice, either about dealing with some dark creature or about dueling in general, which she was happy to provide. A smaller few came and asked difficult questions about Defense. These people she had to get their names and owl addresses from, as she would need time to explain her answers, and she had promised them she would send them an owl when she had finished writing it down for them.

Her favorite encounter with a favor-seeker was the person that came up to her with a Charms question, which she answered dutifully. As they were walking away, Rose couldn't help but smile and giggle as Grigori explained that they probably didn't even recognize her, just the medallion she displayed.

Her least favorite experience so far that day however, was the multitude of people that came to her looking for her to solve their problems for them. The only one she even entertained the idea of helping was the Greek auror that had sought her out. The auror was slightly taken aback when she had readily agreed to help and made plans to meet after the Conference ended so they could portkey back to Greece. It wasn't that much of a hassle for Rose, as she was heading back to Greece at that time anyway. She still needed to pick up her trunk from the Academy.

There was still an hour before the Conference began when Rose began to wonder how much more of this she could handle, as it all began to wear down on her. Grigori had apparently noticed and had led her down one of the many hallways off of the atrium. Rose didn't even noticed, as she had been trusting Grigori to take the lead all day.

However, she did take notice when he opened a door to a darkened room and gestured for her to enter. Grigori just rolled his eyes at her confused stare and entered ahead of her, causing the lights in the room to activate when he crossed the threshold. Rose followed after him wearily, but soon was looking around the room in interest.

She left Grigori behind as she walked around the large room. There were desks stacked up on the walls, covering what looked like maps and diagrams. There were also several empty bookshelves that Rose assumed were filled at one point. But what interested Rose the most, was the absurdly large table in the middle of the room with the large map of the World on it. It looked very outdated, as Rose couldn't make out any modern day countries on it. Scattered about the large map were several little chess-like pieces that looked like little flags with different colors on them. Rose picked one up and gasped in surprise as she realized where Grigori had brought her.

"It's a War Room."

"Abandoned since shortly after the Statute of Secrecy was signed," Grigori confirmed from behind her as she took everything in. "They used this room when they were deciding whether or not to go to war with the muggles or to go into hiding."

Rose frowned as she looked at the map. "I'm not sure it's a war they would have won."

Grigori snorted as he moved over to the map. "Probably not. Look," He pointed at the few blue pieces. "They had small forces gathered in Russia, Bulgaria, France and England, but nothing in Italy. That's where the biggest target for us would have been. If they had a chance to take out the Vatican, they might've demoralized the muggles."

"Or created a martyr." Rose mumbled as she walked around the map. "Uniting all of their enemies."

Grigori raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

Rose scowled as she thought back on her history, both muggle and magical. "It's doubtful. The muggles at that time were tightly connected to the Church, but without the pope to excommunicate them, I'm not sure their allegiance would stick. But that's not the real problem here."

Grigori turned his attention back to the map, looking it over for what Rose had seen. "What is it?"

With a flick of her wrist, Rose's wand was in her hand and waving in the direction of the pieces that indicated the Magical forces, changing the colors until they were all different.

"We weren't united at that point in time. The English and French Ministries hated each other as much as the muggle governments did at that time. The Russians were threatening war with the Bulgarians over the Bulgarians' lax attitude to the Dark Arts Treaty of 476." Rose then pointed over towards Asia, where there were several yellow flags. "The Asian ministries were more united than Europe, but they were not willing to stick their necks out for Europe. The Americans were still considered colonials and didn't have their own ministry until well after their muggle counterparts gained their independence."

Rose shook her head sadly. "No, if they had gone to war they would have been crushed." She smiled sadly at Grigori. "And we probably wouldn't be here today."

Grigori leaned back from the table and folded his arms. "That must've been a difficult decision to make. Unless they were all cowards, it must have hurt their pride to realize they were outmatched."

Rose allowed a small smile to run across her face as she leaned onto the table. "Sometimes you have to decide on doing what is easy and what is right. This time, it was the same thing."

"Well said, Mistress Potter."

Grigori jumped at the voice coming from the door, but Rose just twitched in reaction since she already had her wand out. She looked over to the wizard at the door, an elderly Chinese gentleman who looked only a few decades shy of Dumbledore's age when he had died. Although it was hard to tell, what with how wizards tended to age differently from one another.

"Can I help you, Master…?" Rose asked politely. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Grigori bow respectfully.

"My name is Zhao Yusheng. Master of Mind Arts." The older man explained as he held a hand over his chest and bowed to them slightly.

"Is there something we can help you with, Supreme Mugwump Yusheng?" Grigori asked quickly.

Rose, who had turned when Grigori had started speaking, quickly turned back to Yusheng and bowed. After all, it was only right to show the correct respect to the titular leader of the Wizarding World. And bless Grigori for realizing that Rose hadn't recognized him as such.

"I was actually hoping to speak with Mistress Potter for a moment, if you would please, Master Vorobev?"

Grigori took the clear dismissal and left for the door, giving Rose a worried glance as he left. After all, she wasn't the most politically savvy witch around.

Rose was worried for much of the same reason. There was a very good reason she had given Andy her control in the Wizengamot, and Rose not wanting to deal with it was the lightest reason.

Rose watched as Yusheng closed the door to the room and walked over to the table she was standing next to. He gently picked up one of the pieces and turned to Rose.

"It's been quite some time since I heard one of Albus's quotes."

Rose blinked at Yusheng. "You knew Dumbledore?"

"Of course," he answered simply as he pulled his wand out and silently transfigured the piece he was holding into a chess king. "He was my mentor here in the ICW. He recognized my passion for politics early in my career and took me under his wing. I was happy to follow him, as I realized what he was." Yusheng shook the king at Rose before placing it back on the board, on Scotland.

"Albus Dumbledore was truly an amazing wizard. But it is my belief that he spread himself too thin." Yusheng explained. Rose squashed the anger she generated at hearing someone speak badly of her mentor. She had the same thought some time.

The Mugwump watched Rose closely as he kept speaking. "He was more intelligent than anyone I've ever met, but he sacrificed time he could have been studying, experimenting, and learning more and more so he could play politics. He could have advanced any field of magic he chose."

"He was easily a political demon, yet he spent much of his time teaching, when he could have been making allies, advancing his causes, and changing the world. Not to mention he had to juggle both the Mugwump and the Chief Warlock positions."

"And he was also an educator. Molding young minds and crafting witches and wizards into fine examples of society, while fighting Dark Lords that threatened his homeland, and the greater world."

While Yusheng was making his last point, he started transfiguring more pieces into pawns and placing them around the board. Rose continued to watch him warily as she wondered where he was going with this.

Yusheng sighed and leaned on the table, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he looked around the board at the assembled pieces.

"Did you ever wonder what his end game was?"

The question threw Rose off. "I'm sorry?"

Yusheng looked at the witch and Rose noticed his eyes danced with excitement, as if this was his favorite thing in the world to discuss.

"His end game." He said with deceptive calmness. "When Albus looked at all of his pieces, what did he see coming out of it all?"

"He wasn't like that." Rose said with not a little heat. "He wasn't just some grand Chess Master."

Yusheng's face blanked of all emotion. "You know, Albus always told me he was envious of what I would become." The confusion must have been evident on Rose's face from the change of subject, so he elaborated.

"I never understood it until his death. He left me a letter you see. That was all he left me in his will, not that I needed or wanted his things, but it was important that it was all he left. One thing he wrote in particular sticks out from the rest of his letter."

Rose knew her curiosity was showing on her face, and with the way the Mugwump smiled, he saw it.

"He told me;" Yusheng closed his eyes as if remembering, "that he cared too much." Rose gasped as she heard her mentor's words were parroted almost ad verbatim to her. "He said that he cared more, and I quote, 'for all of your happiness more than my plan'. And then he said; 'I cared more for her life than the lives that could be saved after He falls.'"

A storm of emotions passed across Rose's face, but Yusheng continued.

"So you see, when he always said he was envious of what I would become I was always confused. Until I got that letter. And then I knew. He had trained me and taught me to take over only a single aspect of what He once did, and to perform it to the best of my abilities. And to do nothing else. He was envious that, if I so chose, I could detach myself from the world and see you all as…" Yusheng quickly grabbed a seemingly random pawn and held it in front of Rose. "Something he could never do."

The Mugwump let Rose stew in her turbulent thoughts for several moments, before he put the piece back down on London.

"So, back to my original question. What, if he could have detached himself and been the Chess Master you say he never was, would be his end game?"

Realizing that it was not a rhetorical question and Yusheng actually wanted her opinion, Rose thought about what she knew about her headmaster and quickly came up with her answer.

"He was always adamant about being an educator first. That it was his passion. He would've wanted above all else, that we learn, get better and be prepared for anything."

Yusheng leaned forward as if he was contemplating the answer. "Yes…" He spoke softly. "Albus would have wanted that more than anything else."

The young witch looked at Yusheng in confusion. "But why would you ask me? Surely you knew that already?"

Yusheng chuckled and ran his hand over his short white hair. "No matter what you might think of me, you should never consider me a natural leader. A politician, yes." He explained to an increasingly perplexed Rose. "But not a leader. If the pieces are set and I am given a goal, I can get them all there easily. But the direction to take, that escapes me."

Rose frowned at the older man. "You didn't answer my question, though. Why would you ask me? I've always just been a pawn."

Yusheng looked far too pleased to answer with a question of his own. "And what happens when the pawn makes it to the other end of the board?" He tapped the pawn sitting on London with his wand and transfigured it into a Queen. "Have you not already begun moving in your direction with your speech in the British Wizengamot?"

Rose's eyes widened, but quickly narrowed again. "You're mistaken. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the loo before the Conference begins." Rose began to walk towards the door.

"Mistress Potter."

As much as she didn't want to, she stopped and turned back to the Mugwump in time to catch something he threw at her with her seeker reflexes. Yusheng no longer showed any amusement, but was looking at her seriously.

"Keep it. Not for me, but for the King. And if you don't mind, I would appreciate it greatly if you would stop by the ICW more often. A few times a week or so? I'm sure there's plenty around here that we could use your help with."

Rose looked at the figure of the Queen in her hand and clutched it hard as she thought about it.

"We'll see." She finally answered, giving no promises as she swept out the door.

Yusheng lingered in the room for a few moments more. He let his hand linger over the King piece he had placed on Scotland. He closed his eyes and moved his hand away and picked up the pawn he had placed on Prague.

The Supreme Mugwump smiled softly as he left the room, muttering as he left.

"Now to get the Queen her knights and bishops."

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Grigori thankfully did not ask about what had happened in the War Room. All he had asked was if he needed to crack a few heads for Rose, causing her to laugh heartily and inform him that she was fine (and not the fake _I'm fine_, either). After all, she wasn't really angry with the Mugwump. It was hard to be angry with a fellow close student of Dumbledore's when all he did was make her think philosophically, much like her headmaster had.

The first day of the weekend Conference went by without much fanfare. The Assembly room of the ICW was a large bowl shaped room, with the entirety of the ICW Masters sitting in the stands with the elected officials at the middle. There was also a balcony where visitors could sit.

Rose quickly found out that much of the Conference was a formality and there wasn't much debate given before votes. Rose supposed it had something to do with the fact that everyone was given small folders full of short reports given by the supporters and critics of each bill that was put forth or the fact that any actually important bills weren't on the agenda for this particular conference. She guessed that anything important would be debated heavily.

The only thing that had occurred on the first day that Rose really cared about was that they had wanted to discuss the recent decision made in Britain about the Department of Mysteries. So of course Rose was called upon to speak. She suspected Yusheng's hand in all of this, but the man hadn't made any motions himself, choosing instead to simply watch.

She decided not to give the same speech she had given in Britain and instead focused on the research developments that were possible with the exclusion of the DoM as the primary government research division.

Rose sat down to a similar reaction that she had gotten from the Wizengamot, but for different reasons. These were mostly intellectuals, so of course they loved anything research-driven.

The Conference ended shortly before dinner, and everyone moved to the large banquet hall also situated in the Headquarters. Rose still wasn't sure how big the ICW HQ was. She wouldn't be surprised if she found a swimming pool down one of the hallways.

The dinner was nice, and Rose was thankful there was no dancing, since the ICW never really wore dress or formal robes to the Weekend Conferences and she was exhausted. She was just ready to curl up in her soft hotel bed (Hermione had reserved everything for her in advance) and pass out for several hours.

"Mistress Potter, can I have but a moment of your time?"

Rose used every bit of her considerable willpower to stifle the groan that was so desperate to escape her as she was held back from leaving the banquet hall. She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face before turning to who had called for her.

"Yes? How can I help you?" She asked with half of her brain on her bed and half on the conversation.

The leader of the small group of 5 young men probably smiled charmingly at her, not that she could be certain, with what limited brain power she was using.

"We were wondering if we could interest you in an investment opportunity." _They want money._

"You see, the five of us believe we're on the verge of a breakthrough that could change the Wizarding World forever." _Young, aspiring and probably here with a revolutionary new cauldron._

"You see, we believe we've found a way to make any muggle technology work around and even powered by magic." _See? Cauldrons. Percy would just be happy if they had good bottoms… Wait…_

Rose rubbed her eyes to wake up the other half of her brain as she caught up on the conversation.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" Rose asked, interested. "Cause I could have sworn you just said that you could..."

"Make technology work with magic! Yeah!" One of the other young men exclaimed, much to the ire of their probable leader.

"John! I told you to let me do the talking."

"Come on, Stan. You know John gets excited." The third placated as 'John' tried to apologize.

The five started arguing with each other, so Rose used the opportunity to slip the folder out of the leader, Stan's hands without him noticing. She was still reading when they had finished their argument and had turned back to her.

"Sorry about that Mistress Potter, now as John pointed out…" He trailed off as he realized that Rose was just standing there reading the barebones of their work and froze. This was not part of the plan.

Rose looked up from her reading and absentmindedly passed him back his folder, which he took silently. The witch then dug into her bag for the parchment she had been reading in Hermione's office that morning. She was busy skimming it over when Stan tried to interrupt.

"Umm. Mistress Pot…"

"Shh." Rose hushed and he closed his mouth, much to the amusement of Grigori, who had been watching the whole thing take place.

"Don't worry." The Russian tried to soothe the boy as he walked forward and wrapped his arm around the lad. "She's just thinking. You've intrigued her." Sadly, Grigori was a rather intimidating Russian, especially with the medallion of the Battle Masters proudly displayed on his chest, so any confidence he was clinging to disappeared faster than a niffler that smelled gold.

Finally Rose looked up from her skimming and placed the parchment back into her bag as she scrutinized the five standing in front of her. She narrowed her eyes.

"How old are you all?"

Stan gulped, which did not bode well for him. "Um, I'm 18. The others are all 17."

"Have you finished school?" Rose asked.

Grigori's put pressure on Stan's shoulder, daring him to lie.

"No. We're in our last year at Waharozdzki." He squeaked out.

Rose frowned at the unfamiliar school. She looked to Grigori who quickly supplied, "Poland."

Rose nodded her thanks and stared at the five young men, boys really. She reached into her robe pocket and grasped the chess piece that was there as she made her decision. And that decision was really just to give her more time.

"Well, you are all technically of age. And you have brought some interesting research with you," she praised lightly. "What were you planning on doing if your project was successful?"

This brought them up short. "Um…"

"Do you have any idea how much money you will need?"

Stan looked a little panicked now.

Rose smiled at them. "You all seem very bright, if what I just read is anything to go by, but you need to put more thought into what your end goal is here, boys."

Stan deflated and slumped his shoulders. "I'm sorry we have wasted your time, Mistress Potter. We will take your advice into consideration." He attempted to turn around, but Grigori's hand on his shoulder prevented him. He looked at the Russian, who was smiling at Rose. The boy followed his gaze to see Rose pulling out a notepad and a quill.

"Now, I'm not making any promises, but I might be able to help you with that part of it, if you would like. Just write your name and where I can reach you, and I'll owl you once I have a more definitive answer and maybe we can work something out." Rose said as she held out the quill and pad to a stunned Stan.

Once he had gotten out of his shock and quickly wrote down his contact info, Rose left the five standing there with Grigori following behind her as she left for the muggle world. Conveniently, the passage back up was much simpler, since it was just a moving staircase.

Rose leaned against an unprotesting Grigori as they waited on the staircase. Grigori looked down a little worriedly.

"Are you still feeling tired from the detox?" He asked quietly.

Rose was too tired to even attempt to lie, so she just shook her head while saying, "Not really. It's just been a long day."

Grigori put his arm around the witch. "Well don't worry." He said reassuringly. "You can sleep in tomorrow. We don't have to be back until noon."

Rose yawned and smiled. "Awesome."

The Battle Mage chuckled and nudged Rose. "You want me to carry you to the hotel? I don't mind."

Rose's hesitation to say no was enough of an indicator of how tempting the idea was.

"No… I'll be fine." She mumbled as they finally exited left the staircase back into the muggle world. She looked around to get her bearings and when she looked back at Grigori, he had knelt down on the ground in front of her. "What are you doing?"

Grigori looked back at her and grinned. "Hop on. I'll give you a ride."

It was a testament to how tired she was that she only hesitated a bit before getting on Grigori's back and letting him carry her. She yawned into his back and mumbled as she fell asleep.

"You're an awesome friend, Grigori."

Grigori's smile was bittersweet as he walked down the streets of Prague towards their hotel.

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**A/N: So, this chapter is shorter than I had intended, mostly because it's been cut in half. I'm pretty bad at guesstimating how long these chapters are going to be before I write them. **

**If you want a reason for why this chapter took so long, you can go blame Rito, for making such an addicting game. I make no promises as to the next update, as I'm practicing for next season when I'll start playing ranked for the first time. **

**Now, about the content. Yes, I narrated the actual ICW meeting, because I thought no-one would want to read something so dry. Think about any legislative body of government and you've got the general picture. And I really don't want to write C-SPAN. **

**Also, there was a really awesome review posted lately that I really wanted to respond to, but they weren't logged in, so… Grr. **

**I won't make promises about the next chapter, but I'm not going to abandon this story, even if it takes a while. Thanks for your support and Merry Christmas. **


	9. Sticks and Stones

**Rose Lily Potter and the Avengers**

**A/N: You people are beautiful. I like reviews. The longer ones or the ones with questions will get responses. I love communicating with you people.**

**I own none of this. **

**I'm taking ideas for Marvel characters that should make cameos or Omake ideas. **

**I know a lot of you are antsy for more Avengers, but the Avengers stuff is really all in the future. Sure, we've got some stuff like the Natasha bit, and there most certainly will be more of the same, and with other Marvel characters, but it's not the focus yet.**

**Think about it this way, the first Avengers arc movie took place around 2008, and right now it's only 2002 in story. There's A LOT of stuff that can go on in 6 more years, not to mention the actual first Avengers movie took place in 2012, so 10 years. I could just give you a single chapter narrating what Rose has done and how it has changed her, who she has met, who she has fought, what she has changed, and all that jazz, but what kind of writing is that? I know a lot of people do it (and more power to them, seriously), but I feel like it would be lazy to do that when I have so much I could write about. **

**So like I've mentioned before in my notes, we're going for the length folks. Hope you stick around for the ride. I promise I will put my soul into it and make it as enjoyable as possible. **

**Chapter 7: Sticks and Stones**

**June 2002**

With very little to talk about, the second day of the ICW conference ended hours earlier than anticipated, meaning Rose had plenty of time to take care of her business in Greece, but she was still waiting on Grigori to finish some short meeting with his fellow Battle Masters. She could have left without him, as he eventually had to go back to Russia, but he insisted on escorting her all the way home.

Fortunately, Rose still had company in two of her old teachers, one of which was waiting to go back to Greece with Rose.

"Rose, dear. What on Earth are you working on?" McGonagall asked the girl.

Rose didn't look up from her parchment as she answered distractedly.

"Runes."

Minerva scowled. "I don't remember you taking Ancient Runes at Hogwarts."

Clarence chuckled from his seat at the small table they had conjured in a corner of the atrium (yes, magic was officially awesome). "She didn't. It was one of the biggest problems she had when she was apprenticed under me. I'm sure you know, but Runes are a vital part of enchantments, and by extension, Charms. Rose here barely passed the Runes portion of the Charms Exam, and even then I made her promise not to enchant anything without being one-hundred percent certain of her work or without having someone double check her."

"Which is why the old man is still here." Rose said fondly, eyes still focused on her parchment and teeth nibbling lightly on the feather of the quill. "I really don't want to spend a few hours double-checking everything myself to make sure it won't blow up in my face. I just want to finish this," she passed the parchment to Clarence, "and get back home to Iona as quick as possible."

"What is it that you are enchanting?" The Headmistress asked curiously.

Rose held up a small glass marble. "Conjured it this morning. Should last long enough for my purposes."

Minerva, apparently deciding that she didn't want to dig for answers down that avenue, changed the subject.

"So how is your new daughter? I must say I am glad Mister Malfoy, excuse me, Black took the information from the Muggleborn Register seriously."

Rose fiddled with the end of her hair nervously. "Well, Iona's great. She's still a bit wary of Draco, since he looks a bit like his brother, and she's never had anyone show her any affection, so she's leaching onto everything I give her. And Andy is a Merlin-sent saint. Not to mention Molly. But… I may have messed up a bit."

Minerva narrowed her eyes, not in anger but in confusion. "What did you do?"

"I didn't tell her I was leaving for the weekend." Rose admitted with slightly watery eyes (not that she would ever cry in such a public place). "Of course, I had forgotten the conference myself, but Draco told me over the mirror this morning that Iona was heartbroken last night. She thought I had left, right after I had entered her life and given her hope. That's why I need to hurry home."

Rose turned a slightly irritated scowl towards the general direction that Grigori had left. She couldn't blame him for making her wait, since she hadn't told him any of this, but she was still annoyed.

"Rose," Minerva directed the attention back on her, "I realize that Iona needs you right now, but she'll also have to get used to the fact that you won't be around all the time."

Rose scowled, but didn't reply to the professor, since she knew in the deepest part of her heart that she was right. Instead, Rose stood up abruptly and addressed Minerva.

"I can't just sit here. Do you know any Healers here, Minerva? Particularly any that deal with children often? I have some questions I need answered."

The Professor took the sudden question in stride and stood up from her chair and looked around.

"Yes, I can see someone who is still here. She'll be able to answer anything you have."

Both witches turned to Clarence, who was finishing a small scribble on Rose's parchment, but had apparently also been paying attention to the conversation.

"You misaligned the stabilizing runes again, Rose. I fixed it for you, so all you have to do is the enchanting. I'm afraid I can't stay. If I don't get back to the cabin soon, some other apprentice might try to enchant something without checking with me first and I won't have a cabin." He said as he fixed Rose with a stare.

"Okay, it was one time, Clarence. And I got a shield up in time. There's only that one little scorch mark on the floor." Rose defended as she took her parchment back from him and absentmindedly vanished their table.

Clarence rolled his eyes and smiled at the witch. "Take care, Rose. And stay in touch."

Rose and Minerva gave their own goodbyes before the Headmistress led them over to a tall, thin woman that honestly reminded Rose a little of Aunt Petunia, except without the stick so visibly stuck up her arse.

"Mistress Gebara?" McGonagall inquired politely. Gebara looked up from the paper she had been reading.

"Ah, Mistress McGonagall, how nice to see you again. Still teaching at Hogwarts, I suppose? How is the school doing without Dumbledore?"

"I'm actually Headmistress now, and the school has never been better. We're still having a spot of trouble getting Defense teachers to stick around, but that'll pass with time, I'm sure." Minerva responded. "But I'm afraid I'm not here for small talk. Mistress Potter here was asking for a Healer that was knowledgeable with children, and you were my first thought. Would you mind answering a few questions?"

"Sure," the witch shrugged, "I've got plenty of time before my portkey time." Gebara turned an appraising eye on Rose.

"Well, you certainly don't look pregnant." She joked. "What can I do for you, Mistress Potter?"

Rose was caught off guard at the joke, but quickly focused on what was really important. Iona.

"No. I'm not pregnant. I did adopt a daughter recently though. I was wondering if there was anything I needed to watch out for."

Gebara frowned at the lack of information. "Well, I'd assume you're smart enough to have had a Healer give her a checkup," she half stated, half asked. After Rose's nod, she continued, "Any decent Healer should have been able to tell you anything specific to watch out for. Is there anything in particular you are worried about, or is it just general anxiety? That happens often to new parents, even adoptive ones."

Rose flicked her eyes to the sides as if looking for eavesdroppers before she lowered her voice and answered. "Well, she was abused. I know there are psychological effects to that, but I didn't know if there was anything physical I needed to look out for. I was too ecstatic at her checkup when the Healer said she was fine to ask."

"Is she muggleborn?" Gebara asked.

"Er," Rose faltered. "No. Squibborn, though."

Gebara nodded and stated with no hesitation. "Claustromagosis."

"I'm sorry?" Rose asked in confusion.

The Healer explained for her. "Abuse is very rare in the Magical World. Our culture focuses heavily on protecting family, ever since the Witch Hunts. It's much more common for a Muggleborn, though. Usually when their parents freak out over their accidental magic. Squibborns are no different, except it's usually done out of jealousy or anger that their children are magical when they weren't."

Rose nodded. That certainly sounded like what happened with Iona. "But what is claustromagosis?"

"Claustromagosis is a magical block that can form on a child's magic when they are punished for accidental magic. They subconsciously pull back on their magic because it got them in trouble. When physical abuse is present, they completely cut it off, causing the block to appear."

"How would I know if Iona has it?" Rose asked worriedly.

Gebara looked apologetic when she answered. "Well, it's very rare to have it, but there is no way to tell until she starts learning magic, I'm afraid. It is preventable even at this stage however. You simply have to be extra encouraging about any accidental magic she performs, even if it is annoying or troublesome. Especially any accidental magic in the branch that she was punished for."

"What do you mean?" Rose inquired.

"Well, do you know what branch of magic your daughter was performing when she was abused?"

Rose nodded as she remembered Draco telling her about the toy she had transfigured. "Yes. Transfiguration."

Gebara nodded, "So any transfiguration she performs needs to be praised, otherwise she could have a block on her magic when performing any transfiguration when she starts school."

Beside her, Minerva sucked in a startled breath and turned to look at Rose in horror. Rose tensed, but carried on. She did need these answers for Iona.

"Can it be overcome if she does develop a block? Or is there a cure?"

Gebara shook her head sadly. "There is no known cure once they start school, but with enough effort, people that are affected can force out some of the basics, if they have enough magical potential."

"Rose…" Minerva spoke softly. The Healer assumed it was out of worry for Mistress Potter's child.

The Defense Mistress ignored her professor and bowed to Gebara. "Thank you for your time, Mistress. I will be sure to make great use of your information and advice."

Gebara smiled. "Any time Mistress Potter," She said as she returned to her paper.

Rose moved away from Gebara swiftly and Minerva had to hurry to catch up.

"Rose, please stop." Minerva begged.

"Grigori!" Rose exclaimed happily as she ran up to the approaching Battle Master and gave him a big hug. "You're finally done. Are you ready to get going or do you need to find someone else to talk about explosions with?" She teased.

Grigori faked affront. "I'll have you know we talk about much more than explosions."

Rose smirked. "Like what?"

Grigori grinned widely. "Bigger explosions, of course."

Rose giggled and grabbed Grigori's arm and looked back to the Hogwart's Headmistress with a stony gaze that was missed by the wizard beside her. "What about you, Professor? Ready to go?"

Said wizard noticed the horrified expression of the elderly witch and turned inquiringly to Rose, who had softened her expression after she was sure Minerva had gotten the idea.

"Don't look at me," Rose laughed out. "I think someone pranked her and told her Albus had been harboring a crush on her for decades."

Thoroughly confused, but not willing to call Rose out on it (at the moment, anyway), he smiled at Minerva. "It's alright, Mistress McGonagall. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. But as a matter of fact, be sure not to walk into your office in your nightgown. Not with his portrait hanging up in there."

McGonagall plastered a half-hearted scowl on her face as she addressed Grigori, already resigned to not being able to confront Rose at that moment. "Please don't insinuate such things about Albus, Master Vorobev. He was never a particularly shy man. Had he been so inclined, I'm certain he would have told me had he taken a fancy to me."

"Of course. Please forgive me, Mistress." Grigori replied with a smile.

"Come on, you two!" Rose exclaimed as she pulled on Grigori's arm childishly. "I'm sure the others are already waiting for us."

The three Magi walked towards the portkey area before Minerva even had a chance to ask who the others were; where they were met by two men. The first was the auror that had approached Rose about helping him with something and the other was a man who was far too pale to be natural.

Rose kept herself busy with her marble while they waited the few extra minutes for their portkey to be prepared. She never gave her former transfiguration teacher the time of day, even as they portkeyed back to Greece.

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Rose walked calmly into the dark cave. Her heartbeat was steady and her movements were relaxed. Her hair was slightly damp as it had been raining outside and she hadn't bothered correcting it. In her left hand, she held a jar of bluebell fire. In her right, she was holding a marble tightly between her thumb, middle and index finger.

Rose did not bother looking around the cave and just continued walking into it, with only the light from the jar to guide her. When she looked back towards the entrance that she had come from and could see no light from that direction, she sat down on the hard rock floor and placed the jar in front of her. She pulled a piece of black cloth out of her pocket and covered the jar so that only the slightest bit of light was coming from the fire, but she kept her tight grip on the object in her other hand.

With that completed, Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath of stale air. She listened to the noises of the cave; the steady drip of water in a corner, the ambient sound of air filling up the space, and the tiniest little scuffling from little feet from the creatures that called the cave home.

After several seconds of listening, Rose inhaled slowly once more and let out the breath just as slowly. She stopped and listened once more. Several more seconds passed and Rose repeated the pattern again. She stopped to listen once more and inwardly smiled as she heard what she was waiting for, or rather what she didn't hear.

The water still dripped and the air still swirled, but the animals could not be heard.

They had fled from a predator.

Rose took her left hand and slowly pulled out one of her daggers. With as deliberate a move as she could make, Rose positioned her dagger over her right hand and made a tiny cut on the back of her hand between her index finger and her thumb.

A split second later, she crushed the fragile marble between her fingers.

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Footsteps. Light footsteps reached his sensitive ears.

_No. Please run. _

The being turned his head towards the sound. Calm breathing was heard next, along with the soft thump-thump of a steady heartbeat.

_No. It's dangerous to be here. Run while you still can. I'm dangerous._

The being began to slowly walk through the cave towards the sound, despite the growing struggle within its head, a fight between intelligence and instincts. But instinct was winning.

The footsteps stopped but the being kept moving as it caught onto a scent that it craved. The being sped up as soon as it caught this scent, but its movements were unheard, as silent as if it weren't even there. A deep breath reached its ears and the scent was magnified. The being slowed as it neared the source and the intelligent part of its brain kept it from immediately acting.

_What on Earth is she doing here?_

From the creature's position in the shadows, he observed a young woman sitting in front of a covered light. She took another deep breath and the creature shuddered as the delicious scent was magnified. The intelligence of the creature barely maintained control.

_Is she trying to make me lose it? Oh, God. She smells divine. Please leave. Please._

Another deep breath was taken and the intelligence started to rationalize as the aroma filled its nostrils.

_Well, maybe this won't be so bad. I'll be able to think logically for a while without the urges._

The creature had taken its first step before it froze at the girl's movement. With slow movements, the girl pulled a stunning short blade out and slowly moved it to her other hand. The creature's intelligence began to panic and its rationalizations vanished as he realized the girl's intent.

_No! No! Stop! I'll go mad. You have to…_

Metal met flesh and instinct overcame intelligence completely.

The creature screamed and lunged.

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The device shattered easily in Rose's fingers and the enchantment she had placed on it activated immediately.

Rose heard an ear-splitting scream coming from the shadows to her right that was quickly snuffed out as a wave of pure force was let loose from the crushed device. A clawed hand was inches from Rose's cheek when the owner of the hand was forced back and impacted the wall.

As soon as Rose heard the scream, the crushed remains were out of her hand and her wand was snapped into it. Before the creature's legendary speed could allow it to recover from the blast, Rose had cast chains into place, securing it to the wall.

It began thrashing at the chains, which started to show signs of breaking, but Rose cast unbreakable charms on them and they stabilized.

Quickly standing up, Rose uncovered the jar of flames and carried it with her to the still thrashing creature. She kept the jar in her left hand with her dagger and moved it in front of the creature to examine it with a critical eye before waving her wand at the creature and causing another chain to wrap around its neck and securing the head to the wall. It was a tight chain, but the creature couldn't choke. Very little could kill it.

Rose set the jar on the ground and sheathed her knife, but left her wand out and started digging through her pockets. While the creature continued to writhe against the chains, Rose pulled a small object out of her pocket and unwrapped it. With a quick sniff to confirm what it was in the low light, she used her wand to place it straight into the creature's mouth and forced its mouth shut with a charm to keep it from crunching onto the lollipop.

Rose watched as the humanlike creature's eyes widened and slowly became less feral. When the creature's features became less fierce, Rose dispelled the chains and helped him lower himself onto the ground with her own body.

"_There we go. That's right. Much better, isn't it?"_

The creature, more a man now, but with sharp claws, sharp eyes and fangs looked up at Rose in befuddlement. This amused Rose as the man still had the lollipop sticking out of his mouth.

"_What? What happened?"_

Rose held her hand up to the man's forehead and felt his cold skin as she spoke. She saw him flinch, but she supposed he was in too much shock to attack her.

"_Do you remember how you came to be this way?"_

The man nodded, _"I was working on curing my blood disease and something in the experiment went wrong. I turned into this… thing… and started craving blood. I drank so many people's blood."_

Rose patted his arm and started checking for a pulse that she knew she would not find on his neck, _"What did you use in this experiment?"_

The man's dismayed expression morphed slightly into something Rose had seen on Hermione sometimes; the expression of onewho loved their work. _"I was certain that the disease could be cured by a rare mutagen found in the blood of vampire bats. It just needed a decent stimulus to work in the trials on blood samples, so I underwent some electroshock therapy to stimulate the mutagen. I don't know what went wrong."_ The man spat out the stick that was now out of candy.

Rose just handed him another one and he looked at it curiously before taking a tentative lick. _"What is this? It tastes like blood."_

Rose stopped examining the man and sat down in front of him. _"It is blood. It's a blood-pop to be precise. They are made for people like you."_

The man looked up from the blood-pop startled, _"What do you mean, people like me?"_

Rose calmly pulled a small notepad she had been given from her pocket and started reading, _"Well, from what we can tell from our research of your old lab, the blood of the vampire bat actually contains a small amount of the same virus that makes normal vampires, in a dormant form. The team that searched your lab found the bat blood, but didn't know about the electroshock stuff. I'm guessing that it activated the dormant virus. You are undoubtedly a vampire, though."_

"_Vampires aren't real, though." _The man pointed out.

Rose smirked at that, which the man's enhanced sight caught. _"Oh? Then how did I come in here and know exactly how to deal with you? There have been vampires roaming the Earth for almost as long as humans."_

"_Then how could we not know about them? If there were attacks by vampires, we would know about it."_

Rose sighed and looked down at her wand, _"This is the part that might be a little hard to believe, but I'll give you any proof you need. For centuries, there has been a secret society separate from the rest of the world. This society is made up of vampires, werewolves and many other creatures that seem straight out of a fairytale, but the primary inhabitant of this society are the magi; witches and wizards. I'm a witch. You're a vampire."_

The man looked at her skeptically, _"You expect me to believe that?"_

Rose rolled her eyes, _"You're a smart man, Doctor. I've used magic several times in this cave. The blast that knocked you back was a preset charm enchanted onto a glass ball. The chains I used to contain you were conjured. Bloody Hell, look," _Rose held up the jar of flames and the Doctor's eyes widened, _"explain the magical flames away. Here I'll show you some more."_

Rose used her wand to levitate the jar around the cavern, shot fire from her wand at the opposite wall and transfigured a rock into a small rabbit that she placed in the man's hands, but snatched it from him as he looked at it hungrily.

"_I wouldn't do that. Transfigured food is impossible, so I don't think transfigured blood will be very healthy. Eat your blood-pop. It'll take the edge off."_

The man looked at the candy warily, but stuck it in his mouth anyway. He let out a sigh of pleasure and turned to Rose. _"Why aren't you scared of me? I'm a monster."_

Rose smiled genuinely at him, _"Well, I've been trained to handle vamps. I'm a Mistress of Defense Against the Dark Arts. That includes the classification of Dark Creatures, which vamps technically fall under. So, it's technically my job, even if I don't get paid for it."_ Rose winked at him. _"And I've been friends with a werewolf before, until he passed away. He even made me his child's godmother. He wasn't a monster and neither are you, unless you decide to be."_

A silence fell over them and Rose just let the man think, until she suddenly sat up straight.

"_Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot to introduce myself." _She stuck out her hand. _"I'm Rose Potter. Mistress of Charms and Defense."_

The man took her hand and gingerly shook it, not trusting his enhanced strength, _"A pleasure. I'm Michael Morbius. Um. PhD in Biochemistry."_

Rose giggled. _"Yeah, sorry. I had the advantage here."_ She turned her little notepad to Morbius, showing him his name written at the top of it, followed by copious amounts of notes, which drew his attention. He gestured to it, _"May I?"_

Rose fascinated Morbius by duplicating the notepad and handing him the copy.

Morbius and Rose both read in silence, with the Doctor asking for questions about terminology. It was strange how well he was coping by using the work. When he finished the notepad, he seemed to draw in on himself again.

"_So, what happens to me now? I've apparently broken your laws by being noticed by my people."_

Rose shrugged. _"They just sent me to find you and talk to you. I was only told to put you down if there was no hope of calming your blood thirst. You are protected by Paragraph 12 of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans, so no vampire hunters or anything. They do want to talk to you, though. I think some of the vampire ambassadors will want to speak to you. As far as the muggles go, your work is recorded, and they just assume it was a side effect of an experiment gone wrong. Heck, they have weird stuff going on too that we don't cover up. The muggle world might not be so accessible to you, but you have options. Why don't we go talk about them with those people? We'll get you some actual blood too. Those blood-pops only do so much."_

Rose got up off the rocky floor of the cave and held out her hand to Morbius.

"_Hold my hand, Doc. We're going to apparate. It's like teleporting. And the first time is really uncomfortable. Fair warning."_

With that warning, Michael Morbius took Rose's hand and was popped away from the dark cave.

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After making sure that Morbius was settled with the auror and the vampire ambassador, Rose collected the other two members of her party from where they had been waiting at the Greek Ministry of Magic and flooed with them back to the Academy. Rose had been the first through the fireplace and unfortunately, her stomach chose that moment to lurch violently, causing her to lose her balance and fall to her knees as she fought for control of her lunch. She cursed herself again for not paying more attention during Snape's class, especially during the lesson on Pepperup.

Sadly, her arrival was not private, as was evident by a spiteful voice calling out to her.

"_Well, if it isn't the Bitch of Britain. What's the matter, Potter? Can't handle a floo? I bet my 4 year old niece could do better than that."_

Chuckles were heard around the entrance hall as Rose finished her struggle and stood up. She narrowed her eyes at the approaching wizard. Everything about him screamed cliché bully, and Rose hated bullies. But she didn't want to rise to his bait. Sadly, the wizard that had followed her through the floo didn't get that memo. And he had heard every bit of that.

"_Do you have a problem, kid?" _Grigori asked him angrily. _"I'd suggest you walk away quickly before you regret opening your mouth."_

The idiot sneered at Grigori. _"What's this, Potter? Got yourself a lapdog? Does he know any tricks, or is he just good for his bone?"_

_Well, he's certainly more inventive with his insults._ Rose thought as she and Grigori bristled at the comment, Grigori more visibly so. The response was on his tongue when someone else addressed him.

"_That is enough, Apprentice Andres! Mind your tongue around guests of the academy! Have you no sense?" _McGonagall bit out as she approached the offending wizard.

"_My apologies, Mistress." _Funnily, his tone did not imply sincerity._ "But Potter is no guest. She is an apprentice just like me, no matter how poor of one."_

The end of the wizard's sentence drew startled breaths from most of the crowd, with a few mixed chuckles scattered about. McGonagall was livid.

"_Regardless of your interpretation of things, Andres, Mistress Potter is leaving us to deal with some family matters. If you paid attention to the world outside these walls, you might realize this. And pay her the respect she deserves. She is a Mistress of not one, but two branches of magic."_

Andres smirk only grew as he stared at Rose. _"So you couldn't handle it after all, huh? Not that it's unexpected. No other magic can compare to Transfiguration."_

Rose was halfway through thinking of her clever way to tell Andres to bugger off when Grigori spoke up from behind her amusedly.

"_Well, I find myself suitably insulted."_

Bugger.

"_You, little punk, have a lot of nerve."_

_Shit._

"_I think we're going to have to settle this personally. I am, after all, gravely insulted by your words." _Grigori smirked at Andres, who looked amused.

_Fuck._

"_I do believe there is no other choice. I, Grigori Vorobev, challenge you to an Honor Duel."_

Rose sighed as she ignored Andres's response, undoubtably some insulting and clever way to say he accepted. She wanted to curse the fact that this facet of the Wizarding World existed, but as Ron had once told her (being the only one of the Golden Trio to have been raised in their world), the Honor Duel was less about Honor and more about politely asking for the permission to legally beat your face in. Perfectly legal, safe for bystanders (mostly), and you still got to beat the snot out of the people that annoyed you, provided they had the guts to accept your challenge.

And Rose really couldn't blame Grigori for that.

Rose looked at Grigori neutrally as he turned to face her and his smile faltered as he looked at her blank face. She tried, really tried to maintain that disappointed air, reasoning that if anything, it was good practice for when Iona and Teddy were older. But Rose couldn't help but chuckle as a small, fond smile graced her features.

"_Just don't kill him."_

Rose thought she might go blind from the smile she received from Grigori after he faked affront.

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To call it a fair duel would have been akin to saying that Ron had table manners. From the moment the referee had signaled to begin, Grigori had the advantage.

Despite the fact that transfiguration chains from a competent wizard were quick and despite the fact that transfiguration was easily one of the best branches of magic for dueling, there remained two branches that Transfiguration was exceptionally weak against.

One of them was Rose's specialty. The other was Grigori's.

Grigori had given Andres two precious seconds to start his chain and then fired one of the weakest spells in a Battle Masters' repertoire; used by them only when the situation called for precision.

Andres surprised shout was music to her ears as Grigori's single magically propelled arrow embedded itself into the apprentice's shoulder, interrupting his chain and throwing him back forcefully until he was outside of the large dueling ring of the Academy.

Rose looked at Grigori as the Academy's mediwizard hurried to answer a cursing Andres. He looked almost disappointed and Rose smiled. Grigori was certainly a one of the few things Rose could count on to be constant. Ron and Hermione were loyal to a fault, Molly made good food, and Grigori loved to blow stuff up. A day without explosions was a sad day for him.

Rose turned from Grigori as the referee approached the Battle Master angrily and she stepped onto the ring and went to Grigori's side. This would be fun.

"_Master Vorobev, you are disqualified from this duel and will be declared the loser."_ The referee snarled and Rose finally recognized him as one of the few permanent Masters of the Academy. He was a git.

Grigori merely looked confused. _"Why? I clearly kicked his ass."_

"_Only transfiguration is permitted in duels here at the Athenian Academy of Transfiguration."_ He said pompously, before he sneered at Grigori and Rose simultaneously. Rose was slightly impressed. The man had a decent sneer. And she had seen some good sneers.

"_And who do you think you are to choose the terms of an Honor Duel?"_ Grigori asked mildly.

"_I am Transfiguration Master Henry Sorrenson and Master of this school. You would do well to remember me. Now, please get the hell out of my Academy. Both of you!"_

At this point, Rose was unconcerned about what the people at the Academy thought and just wanted to get home as soon as possible. Sadly, Fate took the form of Minerva McGonagall and ruined that plan.

"_That's enough out of you, Sorrenson! I've had quite enough of your nonsense!"_ The Scottish witch ranted as she stepped onto the ring. _"Imagine my surprise when I spoke to the other Masters at this weekend's conference only to discover that none have them had any clue about the measures you have put into place here. We would have called for you to answer for yourself, but you were conveniently not present."_

"_Why would I belittle myself to discussing magic with those peasants? I'm not like you, spending time with idiots who can't even manage a basic chain!" _The wizard shouted.

"_You are an idiot." _McGonagall stated sternly. _"But luckily, the other Masters have decided that your invitation to teach here is no longer open. After all, there is no Master of this school. It is simply a loose collection of us instructing. Have you forgotten?"_

Sorrenson's anger was evident. _"How dare you?" _ He seethed. _"I am the greatest of all of you. It is only natural that I lead the teaching of new Transfiguration Masters. I will prove it to you. Duel me, you whore."_

_You've already beat him. _Rose thought._ Minerva, you don't need to…_

"_I accept."_

Sorrenson misinterpreted Rose's groan as fear for her old Professor.

Rose rushed to exit the ring and pulled Grigori with her, hoping that this duel would be as quick as Grigori's. She looked for the poor spineless sap of a Master that Sorrenson called to referee and noticed that Andres had stopped the mediwizard from removing him from the dueling hall and had stayed to watch. The rest of the audience chittered excitedly from the stands surrounding the room. Pretty much everyone at the Academy turned up to watch duels, and the ones between Masters were always the most exciting.

The referee signaled for them to begin and Sorrenson had begun with a chain that sent two rabid dogs at the Headmistress. Rose watched in confusion as McGonagall failed to respond with a transfiguration chain of her own and opted instead to completely undo the other Master's transfiguration instead, turning them back into the marble that covered the ring. That was… odd.

Sorrenson's brow furrowed in anger, and he responded with another chain that sent a large tiger bounding at Minerva, who again dis-transfigured the beast back into marble, finishing with the slightest smirk on her face.

The duel continued in this vein for several minutes, with Minerva almost lazily countering anything the other Master could send at her, without sending any kind of counter attack. Rose's eyes narrowed as she realized with no little annoyance what she was doing. And if Sorrenson's wild eyes and red face were any indication, it was working.

"_Stop toying with him." _She hissed out softly, knowing that no one but Grigori could hear her. The wizard in question looked between Rose and the dueling magi and his eyes widened as he realized what his favorite witch had implied.

With a roar, Sorrenson charged McGonagall, demonstrating a skill that every Transfiguration Master attempted, although few succeeded and changed into his animagus form. The now snarling wolf leapt at the witch, who simply waved her wand at the beast and ducked into her own tabby cat and ran to the other side of the ring as Sorrenson was forced out of his wolf form and crashed painfully into the floor of the ring.

He quickly got to his feet and glared at the referee as he gestured to the cat that now had its back to him and was licking one of its paws.

"_That was a charm! Disqualify her!"_

The poor referee made the mistake of looking over at McGonagall who had turned her head partially to glare at him with her angry feline eyes. He swallowed nervously before speaking.

"_S… since it was a charm made to combat a specific aspect of transfiguration, I'll allow it as an exception."_

Rose watched Sorrenson carefully and was not surprised when that pushed him over the edge. He was livid now and his eyes danced with madness, something she had seen too many times before. Rose's wand was out in an instant, while even McGonagall had returned her attention to her paw.

"_Rimorcarnem!"_

Sorrenson's angry shout froze McGonagall in panic, but it never mattered, as the dark cleaving curse hit a transparent shield right before hitting the witch turned cat. The hall went deadly quiet. To the side, unnoticed by Rose, Andres looked disgusted at his mentor, and horrified at himself. Even Sorrenson appeared shocked by his actions, although not shocked enough, in Rose's opinion.

His anger was back in an instant, but his ire was turned instead to Rose, who was stepping onto the ring with her wand pointed straight at him.

"_You! You can't interfere with this duel!"_

Rose kept her face deceptively icy as she looked at him. _"Drop your wand, Sorrenson. That was a dark curse."_

"_This duel isn't over!"_

"_Yes, it is." _Rose said calmly. _"How long have you been practicing the Dark Arts?"_

Sorrenson snarled. _"I've never done anything like that in my life. You know nothing you little bitch! Now get out of my way!"_

Rose stepped in front of McGonagall, who had turned back from her animagus form and waved for the aged witch to get off the ring, which she did reluctantly.

"_Are you implying that I, a Defense Mistress, can't recognize a dark curse when I see one? I can see it in your eyes; this is not the first time. Now… Drop your wand." _

"_Why should I? Who are you to tell me what to do? A little bitch who thinks she's tough because she can fluke a win over a true wizard? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named knew true power. Sadly he was a bigot."_

Rose couldn't help it. She snorted. Him calling someone a bigot. That was rich.

"_I am authorized as a Defense Mistress under the Dark Arts Treaty of 476 to use whatever force I need to subdue you. You've already committed two crimes, unauthorized use of the Dark Arts and attempted murder. Don't make this worse for yourself. Drop. Your. Wand."_

To his credit, Sorrenson appeared to consider the idea, but ultimately he made his mistakes. He smirked at Rose.

"_No, I'm leaving this place. And you will help me. Imperio!"_

Gasps were heard from the crowd as Rose allowed the spell to hit her. The spell lasted all of one second before the witch shrugged it off and quickly threw off the first obscure paralyzing spell she could think of, as well as an incarcerous, and summoned his wand to her. Rose's combo caught Sorrenson completely off guard as he had expected the spell to work.

Rose ignored the cheering as she sighed and walked up to the immobile Dark Wizard, who she knew could hear her even despite her spells. The cheering stopped as she knelt beside him.

"_And now we have use of an Unforgivable, which is regrettably a life sentence. I'm sorry, but I did warn you."_

Rose stood up and was engulfed in a quick hug from Grigori, not that she had missed him approaching with her senses still fired up. She would need a few minutes to calm her body down completely.

Grigori looked into her eyes and was seemingly satisfied with what he saw, because he just smiled and stepped back. Rose was glad for that.

She turned toward her Professor. "Are you alright, Minerva?"

The aged witch shook her head, still a little shaken. Never let it be said that being a war veteran made you used to near death experiences. "I shouldn't have done that." The Headmistress admitted.

Rose looked at her friend sadly and shook her head, but didn't speak.

"It was foolish to accept the duel and even more foolish to toy with him. Thank you, Rose. For saving my life once more."

The younger witch pulled her professor into a tight hug. "It's alright, Minerva. I'd do it a million times if I had to." Rose pulled back and took a deep breath before she turned to Grigori and handed him Sorrenson's wand.

"_Well, I've had my share of fun for the month. Can you wait for the aurors, Grigori? I'm going to get my things from my room and come back here so we can get out of here as soon as they finish questioning us."_

After getting a reassuring nod from her best friend, she gave McGonagall one last squeeze and hurried off to her former quarters. She couldn't wait to get out of Greece and get home.

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As he listened to the soft tones of his cousin humming a melody, in lieu of singing anything, Draco Black couldn't help the thought that his cousin probably didn't _know _any lullabies she could sing. You had to have them sung to you for that, and while he had never confronted her directly, once he had gotten his head out of Voldemort's arse he had made enough connections to realize what Rose's childhood must have been like.

How well Rose knew what an abused child like Iona needed was the final clue. And it sickened him. Draco Black closed his eyes and listened to his cousins humming, refusing to think about any of the dark curses he had learned during his short foray into the Dark Arts. He refused to become that, for Iona's sake.

He sat down from where he had been standing outside of his daughter's room in Grimmauld Place. He focused on his family, and let his thoughts overcome the alluring voice that had grown inside his mind that enticed him to succumb. That's what happened when you didn't study the Dark Arts safely. You got addicted, and every day became a struggle.

A soft touch on his shoulders brought him back to the world. Draco opened his eyes to see his cousin kneeling in front of him worriedly, and he absentmindedly wondered how long he had sat there. He allowed Rose to see his troubled eyes for a moment before his mask went back up.

"Is Iona finally asleep?" He asked softly.

Rose nodded silently, smiling.

"Good." Draco stood up and held a hand out to help Rose up. "She hates it here."

Rose looked at him sharply, and Draco winced at how that sounded.

"Not with us, specifically." He quickly amended as the two traveled down the stairs. "The House. It freaks her out."

"Oh." Rose breathed eloquently before frowning. "It _is_ a creepy house."

The two entered the kitchen and Draco immediately went to fix some tea.

"How do you know that? Did she tell you?" Rose inquired from behind him.

"No." He purposefully didn't answer the first question. "She's still uncomfortable around me."

"Draco…" Rose's voice was unhappily resigned.

"I needed to know." Draco explained simply.

"Ugh." Draco turned back from the tea in time to see the Black Head bury her head in her hands.

"It's not like it's anything my father didn't do."

Rose ran her hands through her hair before looking at Draco sharply.

"We both know what I thought of your father."

"My father had many faults." Draco responded with a hint of veiled anger. "But he was a great father."

Rose couldn't outright deny that. Draco had told her all about the father that Lucius Malfoy had been. She might've hated the man for his actions against her and his views, but objectively, she couldn't speak poorly of the man's treatment of Draco past feeding him his twisted morals. Especially before Voldy had reappeared. Granted, he spoiled him a little, but nobody is perfect.

"I'm not going to invade her privacy or anything." Draco said plainly as his anger evaporated. "But if it helps me raise her? Helps me make her happy? Helps me keep her safe?"

Rose sipped the tea Draco gave her as she struggled with her thoughts. It wasn't as simple an issue as it might have seemed. There was nothing entirely _wrong_ about legilimency, no matter how much the muggleborns wanted to figuratively crucify every practitioner of it. It wasn't even illegal to use it on your own children. And if used the right way? It could be deadly useful in raising a magical child.

The witch shook her head and vowed to think about it more later. "I'll go check and see what I need to do to get Potter Manor livable again." She said to Draco's astonishment. Rose hadn't wanted to move into the place at all; too afraid that it would depress her to see what she hadn't had as a child. But it was worth it for Iona.

Rose stood up and summoned her cloak to her as she continued speaking to Draco. "Maybe you could go get us another House Elf so Kreacher can continue to care for this place."

"If you're sure, I can go tomorrow and find one. Are you going to the Manor now?" Draco asked. "It's pretty late already."

Rose shook her head. "No, Draco. I have something else to take care of tonight, but I'll do it tomorrow. Ask Molly to take care of Iona tomorrow while we're both out. She's watching over Bill's daughter during the day anyway, so maybe she can make a new friend. I think they're the same age."

The witch gave a glance at the clock and turned back to Draco. "Don't wait up for me, cousin. I don't know when I'll be home."

Draco didn't have time to do anything more than nod before Rose had apparated away, but he did manage to sigh after she was gone.

"Bloody witch never stops."

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In a perfectly normal neighborhood, Walter Michaels lived with his wife and two children. He kept his lawn cut, he kept his hedges trimmed, he kept his flowerbed weeded and most importantly, he kept other people off of his perfect yard. So to see someone seated on the middle of his lawn late at night would be understandably strange. If you could see her.

Masked by a simple muggle-repelling charm, Rose Potter sat and observed the houses around her, searching for anything peculiar or out of place, and failing to find a single thing. It was dull for the girl. But luckily she could summon company whenever she was in need of it. Not that she had ever done so, but there was a first time for everything.

"Death."

A soft whisper was heard by only one other, who appeared beside Rose instantly, seated as if she had been there the whole time.

"Mistress."

Rose looked over at the Cosmic Being, the one responsible for the passage of souls to the afterlife, with a searching gaze. Seconds passed before the witch smiled at the Being.

"You were there the whole time weren't you?"

Death returned her Mistress's smile and nodded, not taking her violet eyes away from her.

"Of course you were."

There was silence between the two before Death spoke.

"You certainly choose some lovely places to summon me, Mistress. First the legendary Chamber of Secrets and now here. One might get the impression that you associate me with your worst experiences."

Rose broke her eye contact with Death and looked guiltily at the ground.

"I'm sorry. I've been terribly rude to you, haven't I? I know nothing about you, and yet I've been trying to ignore you."

Death was seated close enough to Rose that it was a simple matter to reach over and grab her hand. Rose allowed it.

"It is alright, Mistress. I have been around for a long time. I was only waiting patiently."

What Death did not mention was that it _had_ indeed hurt to be shunned by her Mistress, even for such a short time.

"Why do I trust you?"

Death did not appear shocked by Rose's question, even if it had been a sudden shift in topics.

"You are wondering why you are not questioning my words and explanations, yes? Why you believe without a shadow of a doubt that my words are true? Why, when normally you would be in denial, you grudgingly accepted your fate as it is?" Death waited for Rose to nod. That about covered it.

"It is because you are my Mistress. Even before you summoned me in the Chamber, you knew it was true, in the deepest part of your soul, buried in denial." Death tilted her head. "When you finally brought the Hallows together, you could deny it no more. You are the Mistress of Death. Your soul knows this. Just as it knows that I could not lie to you any more than I could leave a soul behind."

"That makes no sense." Rose deadpanned.

Death shrugged. "It's the best explanation I have. There's not exactly a manual for this kind of thing."

Rose stared at her for a moment before she started chuckling.

"For some reason, I didn't expect you to say that."

"What did you expect, Mistress?"

"Something vague and mysterious." Rose gazed curiously at Death. "I don't really know much about you. What do you do for fun, Death?"

Death looked up at the starry sky. "I watch life." Rose pulled her knees up to her body and motioned for Death to explain. "I don't really need to personally ferry every soul to the afterlife. My reapers will do it for me. So I wander the Universe, observing what's going on."

"Give me some examples."

Death smiled. "I've seen many things here on Earth alone. I've watched civilizations rise and fall like the Roman Empire or the Han Dynasty. I've seen the construction of great monuments like the Statue of Zeus and the Taj Mahal. And of course I've been present at some of the greatest conflicts and wars. The American Revolution was fun to watch. The Boston Tea Party in particular was just a bunch of drunken hooligans. How they managed to find their way to the docks in the first place is a mystery to me, much less get past the guards and pick up the crates of tea without falling over themselves."

Rose smiled as Death got lost in her memories for a moment.

"Is there anything you regret missing?"

Death winced at Rose's question, which just made her more curious. The Entity abashedly scratched the back of her head before she answered.

"I might have missed the first Great War."

Rose's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"You _missed_ World War I?"

Death groaned and let herself fall backwards onto the grass.

"Yes, my reapers moved almost 20 million souls in 4 years from that conflict alone and I was too fascinated by Asgardian politics to notice."

Rose couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into laughter. It took her several moments to get herself under control, but she was still grinning at Death.

"Did none of your reapers think to tell you what was going on?"

Death rolled her eyes. "The reapers are idiots. They didn't question _why_ their workload suddenly got heavier, they just kept working like one of the biggest wars of this planet's history wasn't going on. I made sure they knew to tell me about things like that from then on, but by then it was too late. The war had passed and all I got to see was the formation of the League of Nations. Don't get me wrong, I like politics as much as an immortal being can, but I like working and watching wars. There's a certain morbid beauty about it that I don't think I could explain it properly."

Death looked ready to get lost in her memories again, so Rose questioned her further.

"So what was going on with Asgardian politics that had you so preoccupied?"

Death suddenly sat up.

"Well, it involved Prince Loki getting Prince Thor drunk and convincing him to wrestle a boar naked in the streets, but I'll tell you all about it later. She's here."

Death pointed across the street at a figure walking along the sidewalk and looking around to see if her sudden appearance was noticed.

Rose stood up and looked back down at Death.

"How'd you know I was waiting for her?"

Death looked at the ground. "My favorite thing to watch these past few years has been you. I was with you at the convention, hidden."

Rose rolled her eyes and extended her hand to Death to help her up. "I'm not going to be upset with you about that, Death. I'd be foolish to think I need to or even could hide anything from you. Now come on, we have to catch up to her."

Rose grabbed Death's hand and pulled her across the street to catch up to the witch that was heading towards one of the houses. They closed the gap right as she was at the foot of the driveway.

"Wait here." Rose told her companion as they neared.

Rose walked towards the witch who was looking at the house carefully, undoubtable planning exactly what she wanted to do. Rose called out as soon as the witch took a step towards the house.

"You shouldn't be here, Professor."

Minerva McGonagall jumped in shock and turned with her wand out. She dropped it when she saw Rose and put a hand on her chest.

"Merlin Rose, you startled me. I didn't see you there."

Rose closed the distance between them and looked pointedly at the Headmistress.

"Why are you here?" She asked softly.

The older witch opened her mouth to reply but no words came out.

"I don't know what you had planned to say or do to them, but it's not necessary." Rose said.

Minerva turned her gaze angrily towards the house. "I don't know how you can say that. Those monsters need to pay. They are likely the reason you can't get your transfiguration mastery. I can't stand child abusers."

Rose moved between Minerva and Number 4 Privet Drive. "And what would you do, Professor?"

"I would give them a piece of my mind! I…"

Rose cut her off. "And when Vernon undoubtedly loses his temper, what would you do? Would you give him a reason to fear magic? Would you give him proof that he was right all along? That he was right to try to stamp the magic out of me?"

Minerva looked like she'd been struck and close to tears. "What did he do to you, Rose?"

Rose smiled sadly at her favorite professor. "Nothing I haven't already gotten over."

"Rose…"

"Go home, Professor. Go back to Hogwarts and watch over the children there. Help those that you can. You can't help here. There is nothing to do."

"Rose, please… I just want to…"

"Minerva…" Rose cut her off again sternly. "I am a fully qualified witch. I am a Mistress of both Defense and Charms. I have defeated two Dark Lords to date and fended off so many attempts on my life that it would take me an afternoon to remember and count them all. If I had wanted to get revenge on the Dursleys, do you think that I wouldn't have?"

McGonagall's shoulders slumped. "No. You're perfectly capable of doing that yourself. I just feel so terrible that I never noticed it. Looking back… You were so small, Rose. So withdrawn. I should have seen it. I should never have let Albus put you here."

"I think Hermione was the only one who noticed, Minerva. You shouldn't feel bad about that. I still have never talked about it, not even with her. Let it go."

Minerva sighed. "If you insist, Rose."

Rose nodded. "Thank you."

Rose glanced back over to Death, who was amusing herself with watching the stars. McGonagall followed her gaze.

"Who is that, Rose?"

Rose chuckled as she started walking over to collect Death. "Just an old friend. Don't worry. She knows about us. Good night, Minerva."

"Good night, dear."

Rose heard McGonagall's soft crack of apparition as she reached the Entity. "What do you see, Death?"

Death snorted. "I see stars, Mistress. But they are infinitely more interesting than these houses."

Rose giggled and looped arms with Death. "I didn't know if you were looking across the Universe or something. Come on, Death. I'm not going to be able to sleep anytime soon and you promised me a story about Asgardian Princes and naked hog wrestling… And Death?"

"Yes Mistress?"

Rose smiled at the servant that she had been ignoring for years. "Call me Rose, Death. It's what my friends call me."

Death returned the smile. "As you wish… Rose. Now I should start my story by giving you a little bit of background about Asgard. Asgard is one of the nine realms of Yggdrasil, also known as the World Tree."

Rose laughed as she and Death walked. "You weren't kidding about the Norse mythology, were you? Sorry, continue."

"Right, now what you should know…"

It was a nice night as Death walked with her Mistress, regaling her with tales of Gods and Worlds far away, temporarily leaving all of her Earthly troubles behind.

**A/N: It took a surprisingly short amount of time to finish most of this chapter… And then it took several weeks to write the scene at the Academy. Something about that Transfiguration duel just had me baffled. How was I supposed to make that interesting. I like Transfiguration as much as the next person, but it makes for a dull duel to only use it. And I swear to Merlin, if my fingers type Transifguration instead of Transfiguration one more bloody time, it'll take twice as long to write the next chapter, as I'll be doing it with one less bloody finger. One of my middle ones, I haven't decided yet.**

**This chapter focuses almost painfully on Rose's abuse with the Dursleys. At least, I thought so, but on my final read through, it didn't read so badly. But I'm my worst critic, so you let me know what you thought. **

**Rose gets her first peek into the worlds outside her own with Death's stories about Asgard. I wonder if that will have any impact with her knowing they exist before she even meets them… Spoiler alert, it does. **

**Hey, no one gets to complain about the lack of Marvel characters this chapter. Cause Morbius ain't no OC. I was reading through the Marvel character page and saw him. He's even legitimately Greek. And a vamp. So yeah… He'll be important once later, but that's about it. He's kinda filler… Not that I'd ever… Yeah. I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead. Later.**

**P.S. More Marvel next chapter. But the first Phase One movie… We got a few years.**


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